Decks, Destiny and Dreams
by James Firebrand
Summary: Three new students enroll at Duel Academy, each bringing their share of secrets and mysteries surrounding them. All combined, they could either destroy Duel Academy or raise it to heights no one could have possibly dreamed of. OCxOC, T to be safe. Book I
1. Opening Act

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 1: Opening Act**

**O.K. this is my second shot at writing a fan-fic, if you missed my first one, trust me, you didn't miss a thing. Hopefully this one will be WAY better. Only one way to find out!**

**UPDATE 5/20/09: As many of you know, I am NEVER satisfied with my work. (And for good reason) So until further notice DDaD will be on hiatus as I, with the help of my beta attempt to re-write what chapters I have and bring them up to a suitable standard. This is the firs (and only) chapter re-written with the help of Dreamer of Universes. Unfourtnately, he will not be able to help me with the re-writing of any other chapters. However his help is GREATLY appreciated! So peek back at my profile everynow and then for an update on the re-writing process!**

* * *

Issac dashed through the night, breath exploding from his lungs. Had he lost them? The sound of pursuing footsteps and shouts pounded in his ears, but weather they existed or were only his imagination, he couldn't say.

Various pieces of trash were trodden underfoot and others were brushed aside from the wind of Issac's rapid passing. The moon shone down upon the scene seemingly half-heartedly, as if it could care less about what went on below it.

Where was it? There! Issac made a sharp turn and raced down a narrow alley. He slowed to a jog and peered into the darkness. "F-Fink? You there?" He whispered hoarsely.

Fink materialized from the shadows.

"About time you got here Issac" Fink's voice was nasal and oilily. "I would think you of all people would know the most important part of a business transaction is respect. And part of that respect is showing up on time."

"Listen Fink, I don't have much time," Issac said hurriedly. "Do you have it?"

Fink produced a brown paper package haphazardly sealed with duct tape and handed it to Issac. "Here's you're ticket outta here." He said. "All the information and needed materials are inside."

Issac peeled back one corner of the wrapping just enough to let a patch of bright red peek out. "Are you sure?" He asked.

Fink narrowed his eyes. "From what you've told me, that's the safest place for you. Your presence should be masked by everyone else's."

Issac still seemed hesitant. Fink's face remained impassive, though his mind was working overtime. Issac had always been the original straight arrow. But now, he was asking for something if not illegal, then very shady...only two questions remained. Why? And how could Fink turn this to his advantage...?

Issac tucked the package safely away. "Thanks, Fink," He said as he hurried off down the alley. "I won't forget this."

Fink smiled to himself as he watched Issac's retreating back. "No kid, do us both a favor. Forget it."

Fink turned to leave, unaware of a pair of unseen eyes watching him from the shadows. The figure raised a cell phone and spoke two words.

"Duel Academy."

The cell phone closed with a snap.

* * *

Rusty strolled through Domino City, enjoying the mild day. The sun struggled to shine through the gray overcast sky as a few stray clouds sailed lazily across the sky, pushed along by the breeze. A puff of wind blew several damp, fallen leaves through the gutter, tossing them playfully into the air before breathing away.

Rusty's reflection wavered and shimmered in the windows of the various shop fronts he passed. A lone car growled down the street, muffling the sound of the latest hit single being played by a near by music store in an attempt to draw customers.

Rusty shoved his hands deep into his jacket pocket as he tasted the cool morning air. He paused a moment to admire his reflection in the window of the store he was about to enter.

Rusty was slightly taller than your average teenager with a lean, wiry frame and flaming red hair. His green eyes sparkled with mischief and we're never still.

"Well, are you coming inside or are you gonna just stand there and admire yourself all day?"

Rusty's trademark Smirk crossed his face as he raised a hand to his chin as if in deep thought.

"I'm not sure," He mused. "For some reason, I'm not sure I can pull myself away from this vision of perfect beauty..."

The store owner who was leaning in the doorway snorted, pushed himself away from the doorjamb and headed back into his shop.

"Get in here," He commanded. "I just got your cards in."

Rusty's eyes lit up as he followed the proprietor into the store.

The small store specialized in Duel Monsters merchandise, it's walls were covered in everything from booster packs to Duel Disks to books detailing the history of the game.

The owner walked around a display case for rare cards that doubled as the counter and pulled a package out from under it.

"This is it!"

"Really?"

Rusty peeled back the wrapping to reveal the brown backing of several Duel Monsters cards. He carefully pulled them from their resting place and flipped through them.

"Gadjiltron Chimera, Ancient Gear Castle. These're some pretty rare cards!"

"You think that's rare?" The owner slid a card across the counter. "Try this!"

Rusty's eyes bulged. "The Ancient Gear Golem?! You told me you couldn't get that!"

The manager frowned and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.

"I couldn't, but the weird thing is, when I opened up this morning, I found that card, along with the money for the others in an envelope on the counter"

Rusty looked back at the cards in his hand. "Who would just _give_ me a card like this? Not to mention waste a ton of money on me?"

The store owner looked like he was about to say something, when the door opened.

The boy standing in the doorway was short and stocky, with powder blue hair that matched the lining of his long black coat.

"Can I help you?" The owner asked.

"I'm looking for someone to duel." The boy said curtly. The store had a reputation for being a Duelists hangout. If you needed someone to challenge, just show up and wait for a while.

The store owner looked at Rusty with a raised eyebrow. "Why not take it for a test drive?" He asked.

Rusty grinned at his deck and turned to the boy. "I'll duel you." He offered.

The other boy sized him up with a sneer on his face.

"Fine." He grunted and switched on his duel disk.

"Woah there, champ" The store owner raised his hands. "If you want to duel, fine, but take it outside, OK?"

The boy shot him a glare. The store owner smiled, but there was a trace of steel in the grin.

The boy snorted. "Fine" He said, and stalked out. Rusty hurried after him.

Once they were outside, the two boys took up positions opposite each other

"I've never seen you around here before" Rusty said amiably as they shuffled their decks. "What's your name?"

"Torego," His opponent snapped in a rough voice "Not that it's any of your business."

Rusty raised an eyebrow. _He asked for it... _"Torego? Sounds like a cheap sauce if you ask me"

Torego's jaw muscles bulged. "Yeah?" He snarled. "No one asked you!" He activated his disk. Rusty shrugged and did likewise.

"DUEL!"

Five minutes later...

Rusty: 1000 Life Points

Torego: 1000 Life Points

Rusty's Field: Empty

Torego's Field: **Tri-Horned Dragon (2850/2350)** X1

Torego seemed confident he had the upper hand. "You've had it punk!" He shouted, pointing at Rusty, an almost maniacal look in his eyes "Next turn, this duel is mine!"

Rusty Smirked. "Don't bet on it, Sauce-boy. My Draw!" He scanned his hand, ignoring Torego's sputters of rage.

"I activate the **Spell Magnet Circle LV 2**! This let's me pick one Level 2 or lower Machine monster from my hand and Special Summon it right away. Like the **Ancient Gear (100/800)** for example!"

A jumbled bunch of rusted metal rose from the ground. Suddenly, they twitched and jumbled together to resemble some mechanics toy.

Torego had recovered enough to growl: "That thing's nowhere near enough to stop me. You trying to make me look like a fool or something?"

Rusty shrugged "Why should I do that?" He asked. "You do it so well on your own!"

This sent Torego into fresh spasms of rage as Rusty went on. "When I have a monster with "Ancient Gear" in it's name on the field I get to Special Summon another **Ancient Gear (100/800)** from my hand."

A second pile of twisted metal rose from the ground. "And..." Rusty said, wagging a finger. "...I still haven't Normal Summoned this turn..."

Torego stopped ranting long enough to look blank. Rusty grinned wickedly.

"I Tribute both my **Ancient Gears**..." The machines fell to pieces then sank back into the ground. "...to Summon...wait for it..." The ground began to shake. "...**The Ancient Gear Golem! (3000/3000)**"

A giant figure covered in metal plating rose from the earth. The whir and clank of gears and springs could be heard as the **Golem** lifted it's head to reveal a pair of red electronic eyes pulsing under it's helmet. The **Golem** towered high over the duelists. Even the mighty **Tri-Horned Dragon **seemed small in comparison. Torego's mouth hung open in amazement.

Rusty folded his arms. "Playtime. **Ancient Gear Golem**! Attack! Mechanized Melee!"

The titan hauled back a gigantic fist and slugged the **Tri-Horned Dragon** straight in the chest. The dragon seemed to crumple like a paper bag, then shattered into pieces.

Rusty: 1000 Life Points

Torego: 850 Life Points

Torego winced as his Life Points dropped. "Nice try, punk," He grated. "But I'm still around."

Rusty shook his head. "No," He said slowly. "You're not. Not after I've played **Ancient Gear Explosive** at any rate! For this to work I have to destroy an Ancient Gear monster on my side of the field, then you take damage equal to half it's Attack Points! Just watch."

The **Golem** reached up slowly and pulled it's own head off. As soon as it did so the entire body began to wobble unsteadily. With the other hand it reached inside it's now unattached head and yanked a starter cord deep inside. The eyes began to pulse faster as the **Golem **hauled back and threw the head. The motion took the last of it's energy and the body collapsed into a mountain of junk. Meanwhile the head landed right at Torego's feet. Torego stared at it dumbly.

Rusty snapped his fingers. "Yippie-ki-yay!"

The head detonated, sending Torego flying backwards, head over heels and wiping out the last of his Life Points.

Rusty: 1000 Life Points

Torego: 0000 Life Points

Rusty pumped a fist.

"Another one bites the dust!"

"Nice going!" Rusty turned to see the store owner standing in the doorway of his shop.

"I was watching you two duel," He said, walking towards them. "You really handled your new deck well. Especially considering this was your first time using it!"

"Thanks." Rusty grinned.

"Are you still planning on entering Duel Academy?" The owner asked.

Rusty nodded. "The entrance exams are tomorrow, but I'm not too worried. With a deck like this," He said, holding up his cards. "Those tests should be a piece of cake!"

The owner grinned. "Well, I wish you luck! Give that proctor hell for me tomorrow!"

"Oh, I will..." Rusty Smirked.

Meanwhile Torego had gotten to his feet and started stalking away. _Enjoy it while you can punk, because soon that card, will be mine._

* * *

Issac had managed to find shelter on the roof of an abandoned building during the day. As night fell, he stirred. He could finally hear the sounds of pursuit approaching.

"That scum!"

"--thought he could've gotten away with it!"

"Spread out! Keep your heads down!"

Issac waited until the sounds of his hunters had faded. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. searching for the wellspring of power within him. Eyes still closed, Issac bolted from his hiding place, straight into the arms of one of his pursuers.

* * *

Rusty lay awake in bed that night, staring up at the shadows dancing across the ceiling, thinking about the entrance exams tomorrow. After the duel today, those pathetic exams decks shouldn't even pose a problem. After all, the exam decks were purposely weakened compared to your average duelists deck. Why did he even waste time thinking about them?

He rolled over and closed his eyes, then opened them almost instantly. Why had the bed suddenly gotten so cold? Then he noticed, he was no longer on the bed. He was lying on some kind of metal floor. Slowly he got to his feet. He was standing on a perfect circle of tempered steel about 10 feet wide. He looked about but there was only darkness beyond the circle.

_**Enjoying the view?**_

Rusty whirled to see who had spoken. His jaw dropped, before him stood...well, he really had no clue what it was. The figure looked as though the **Ancient Gear Golem** had lost the plate armor, shrunk to about 6 feet, and hit the gym. Bare gears turned and ground as the figure spoke again.

**_I see you have not recognized me,_** The robot spoke in a deep, chocolaty, rough voice. **_But that is as well. You will come to know me in time._**

Rusty raised an eyebrow. "Know what? A walking can opener?"

The machine threw back its head and laughed. _**See, that's why I chose you, wit, and an absolute lack of fear!**_

"You chose me?" Rusty asked indignantly. "What am I? A Camaro?"

The machine raised a hand. **_There is no time. You must wake now,_** He said urgently. _**Your Deck is in danger.**_

Rusty shook his head. "Danger? Wha--?"

His eyes snapped open. He was back in his bedroom and instantly two things became startlingly clear to him.

1. There was some sort of Duel Monsters card in his hand.

2. There was someone else in the room.

Rusty could see the outline of the person thanks to the light of a full moon streaming in through the open window. The figure was hunched over his desk, rifling through his Deck.

Rusty sat bolt upright in bed. "Hey!"

The figure started, grabbed something off the desk and jumped through the window. Rusty raced over just in time to see the figure begin to run off. Rusty glanced down at his desk. Despite the fact that it was brand new, it was glaringly obvious that a card was missing. He quickly gathered up the cards along with the card in his hand, grabbed his Duel Disk and jumped out the window after the figure. The theif had not gotten much of a head start. They ran for several minutes the pale moonlight filtering down through tree branches. The night was dead still, the only sounds were the slapping of their feet on the pavement and their rapid gasps drawing air into their lungs. The chase continued for several minutes, until the figure turned down a dead end alley. The theif ran a ways farther, then stopped, it's back to Rusty. Rusty slowed to a stop in the middle of a pool of light from a decrepid streetlight.

"Give it up," Panted Rusty. "There's nowhere to run"

In response the figure turned, it's face in shadow and activated a Duel Disk. Rusty growled.

"You're on." He said, activated his own.

"DUEL!"

Rusty: 4000 Life Points

????: 4000 Life Points

"I'll start this, thief!" Rusty shouted. "Draw!" He quickly made a decision. "I summon the **Ancient Gear Soldier**(1300/1300) in Attack Mode!" A armor plated robot rose, a machine gun taking the place of one of it's hands. "I'll also Set one card facedown and end my turn"

"My Draw!"The shadowy figure selected a card as well. "I Summon the **Luster Dragon**(1900/1600)!" A jeweled blue dragon came swooping down out of the night. It opened it's jaws and fired a ruby red beam at the robot, overloading it's circuts and causing it to explode "I also set a card facedown as well"

Rusty: 3600 Life Points

????: 4000 Life Points

Rusty winced as his Life Points dropped. "My turn again! Draw!" Rusty scanned his hand.

_I don't have anything right now that can take on that overgrown piece of paste jewelery toe to toe._ Rusty thought. _So I'll have to try something else._

"I summon **Boot Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo** (0/2000) in Defense Mode!" _That should keep him from getting to my Life Points! That **Luster Dragon's** attack is lower than my **Dynamo's** points._

"Now I draw!" The sound of laughter came from the shadows. "I Activate a Trap Card, **The Imaginary Dragon**! After it's activation, this trap becomes a Monster!(0/0) "

A ghostly translucent dragon appeared in a blast of wind, swirling the dust from the alley street around it. It's mouth opened in a silent roar. "And now, I'll tribute both of them to Summon, The **Ancient Gear Golem**!"

The golem appeared as before, it's hulking form looking as though it would fall on Rusty at any moment.

Rusty took a step back, his eye's fixed on his erstwhile monster. "I knew it! You stole my **Golem**! Show yourself, Sauce-boy!"

Torego stepped into the edge of the pool of light. His eye's gleamed with madness.

"Give me back my **Golem**!" Rusty shouted.

Torego smiled madly. "Not unless you beat me."

"I shouldn't have to beat you to get it back!" Rusty replied. "It belongs to me!"

"Not anymore."

Rusty ground his teeth. "You'll never get away with this!"

Torego laughed. "You can't stop me, now that I've got your best card." His eyes gleamed again. "Go! **Ancient Gear Golem**! Mechanized Melee!"

The golem shrugged back it's gigantic fist and unleashed another awesome punch. The **Dynamo **shattered like it was nothing. The fist continued on, taking a big chunk of Rusty's Life Points with it. "Of course, you'll know all about the Gear Golem's special ability." Torego said condescendingly "It doesn't matter if a card is in defense position or not. You'll still take damage!"

Rusty: 3000 Life Points

Torego: 4000 Life Points

Rusty fell to his knees as Torego laughed madly.

"Soon I'll have my revenge for your humiliating me earlier. That, and the **Ancient Gear Golem** will be mine!"

Rusty lifted his head. _He's right, the **Ancient Gear Golem** is the Ace of my deck. Without him, I don't know if I even have a chance of winning this!_

* * *

**WHEW! That really took it out of me! But we're on our way now! Just a few side notes before I sign off. **

**I created The Imaginary Dragon card. Just something I came up with on the spot, so don't go tearing open booster packs trying to find one.**

**I'm a bit of a slow writer so it could be a long time before the next chapter is up, but don't worry, I'll let you know if I'm dead or not.**

**GAME ON!**


	2. Ace Vs Owner

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 2: Ace Vs. Owner**

**I think I'm starting to get a little steam up now, hopefully I'll be able to update a LOT faster. **

**I'm going to be using quite a few OC cards, some times, simply to fit the situation, sometimes for pure awesomeness and sometimes just for dramatic effect. Hopefully that Imaginary Dragon last chap whetted your appetite. ...O.K... why are you still reading this? Read the REAL story and you'll see what I mean!

* * *

** Rusty: 2800 LP

Torego: 4000 LP

Rusty looked from his Ancient Gear Golem to Torego's sneering face and back again.

_O.K._ _Assessment time. 1. This creep just stole one of my cards. 2. The card he stole just happens to be the most powerful monster in my entire deck 3. Even if I play defence I still can't protect myself thanks to the Golem's Piercing effect. 4.... _

Rusty looked at his hand _I don't even have a combo to buy myself some time so..._

"Hey! Are you just gonna stand there all day? Or do you just wanna give me your Golem?"

Rusty struggled to his feet. "Over my dead body Sauce-boy" He snarled.

"Make all the jokes you want, they won't save you now"

"No. But this should. Draw!" Rusty looked at the card and groaned. _I hate to do this, but I don't have a choice._

"I activate the Spell Hand Destruction! Now we both discard our entire hands and then draw the same number of cards we discarded"

Torego and Rusty both folded their hands and slipped them into the graveyard slot. _I had to toss some of my best cards there, but even they couldn't help me now. _Rusty drew a new hand and narrowed his eyes _This could work..._ "I activate a Spell! Monster Reborn! Now I get to Special Summon any monster from either of our Graves. And I'll choose the Green Gadget!

A short green machine popped out of the Graveyard slot, hopped across the Duel Disk and down onto Rusty's side of the field.

"So what? That can't beat your...oh, I mean MY golem!" Torego scoffed. Rusty shook his head.

"You really are stupid aren't you? I'm tributing the Green Gadget to Summon the Ancient Gear Gadjilton Chimera! (2300/1300)"

A rusted claw reached up from the ground and pulled the Green Gadget into the earth. Then, the claw re-emerged and pulled the rest of itself onto the field. the Gadjilton Chimera was a three headed monster with a large green-plated metal body and a long tail, it's three heads waving about like snakes, seeking a meal.

"Plus, since he was Summoned by Tributing the Green Gadget, it gains a bonus of 300 extra Attack Points! (2600/1300)"

Torego opened his mouth but Rusty interrupted. "I know, he still can't beat the Golem. At least, not until I activate this! My facedown, which happens to be a Machine-only trap called Rare Metalmorph! And thanks to it, the Chimera gets even more Attack power! Another 500 Attack Points, enough to take down the Golem!"

A mass of molten metal emerged from the card and began to cover the Chimera.

Torego snorted. "I don't think so" He plucked a card from his hand and inserted it into a slot on his Duel Disk.

"I activate the Mystical Space Typhoon!" A blue tornado emerged from the night sky and engulfed the Chimera, blowing away the Metalmorph.

Rusty growled. _The Mystical Space Typhoon, one of the most common and most powerful cards in the game, the magical tornado can destroy one spell or trap on the field. __And thanks to it, I don't have anything left to counter the Ancient Gear Golem. I have some traps but you can't activate any when an Ancient Gear attacks. __This card could help, if I survive this round, and if I can get a good monster next draw. Man, that's a lot of ifs._

"Hey!" Torego snapped. "You finished yet? I wanna get back to pounding you!"

Rusty Set the card face-down. "I am now"

"Good!" Torego drew, not bothering to look at the card. "Gear Golem! Mechanized Melee!"

The Golem raised a fist and slammed it onto the Chimera's back. It let loose a roar of pain and fury before exploding into millions of pixels.

Rusty: 2400 LP

Torego: 4000 LP

Rusty grunted as the metal fist flew through him again, dropping his life point's even further.

Torego set one card. "I'll end my turn with that"

"D-Draw!" _Perfect! Just what I've been hoping for! _"First, I summon the Yellow Gadget in defense mode!"

A small yellow machine similar to the Green Gadget popped out of the card and hopped onto the field.

"Next I activate the Messenger of Peace spell! Now monster's with more than 1500 attack points can't attack. And just in case you couldn't count, which you problably can't, the Ancient Gear Golem has twice that many!"

"Oh, I can count all right" Torego sneered "And I also can activate this! My facedown trap card. Pole Position! Now the strongest monster on the field is immune to all spells, and in case _you _couldn't tell that's the Golem!

Rusty groaned as the hologram of his Messenger vanished.

"I'll end my turn too" Rusty closed his eyes and braced himself. _Oh man, this is really gonna hurt._

"Mechanized Melee!"

Rusty cried out as the blow sent him staggering backwards.

Rusty: 600 LP

Torego: 4000 LP

Torego howled with laughter. "Oh, man! This is almost too easy! You can't use traps because you can't activate them against an Ancient Gear, you can't use spells thanks to Pole Position. And the best part is you can't attack because I've got your best monster and you'll still take damage no matter what mode you play your cards in!"

Rusty winced and glanced down at his Life Point counter then back at his hand.

"You're totally helpless!" A sadistic gleam entered Torego's eye's. "I'd offer you the option to surrender, but I'm having too much fun watching you struggle"

_He's right, I'm finished._ Rusty thought, his eye's downcast. _Next turn it's all over._ _I should just walk away now, save myself the humiliation._

Rusty started to turn. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place. He looked up to see the robot from his dream earlier only...transparent. He could see right through him.

The robot's voice resonated through his head. _**The Duelist I chose would never have abandoned hope.** _

_The Duelist you chose never had any reason to. _

_**Is that so? Tell me, name one time your Deck never came through for you in a Duel.** _

_How about right now?_

The machine chuckled. **_The Duel isn't over yet, trust me. Just one more draw, it could mean all the difference in the world._ **

Torego was growing impatient. "Are you going to give up or just stand there?"

Slowly, Rusty drew his next card. He looked at it and his trademark smirk spread over his face. And for some reason, that smirk scared Torego more than a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"Sorry Sauce-boy, but I never give up!"

Torego ground his teeth. "You wont be laughing next turn" He grated. "I'll grind you to dust!"

"Not if your next turn never comes around!"

"Don't talk stupid! The Gear Golem is the strongest card in your deck! There's no way you can defeat it!"

"WRONG!"

Rusty held up a finger. "He WAS the strongest card in my Deck" Torego looked blank.

Rusty's eye's narrowed. "First I activate Double Attack! For this to work I discard one card in my hand, then a monster on my side of the field get's to attack twice. So I'll discard the Ancient Gear Beast!"

Rusty slid the card into the graveyard and grinned. "With that all the requirement's have been filled. So now I remove from play the Ancient Gear Beast and Gadjiltron Chimera..."

The two beastly machines appeared on either side of Rusty, both growling and ready to attack before before vanishing into a whirlwind. Rusty shouted over the storm. "...and now I can Summon the most powerful monster in my deck. Come Forth! The Ancient Gear Demon! (2100/500)"

The Demon exploded from the earth, clods of dirt flying everywhere. **_I told you so._ **Rusty nodded.

"Now, his special power kicks in! He gains Attack and Defence equal to half the Attack and Defence of the monsters removed to Summon him so that means...(Ancient Gear Demon (4250/2150))"

Torego started moving backwards. "What the...!"

"Plus, thanks to Double Attack, he get's to attack twice!"

As Rusty spoke a blue aura began to pulse about the Demon.

"But I'm still not done! I activate my facedown, this should seem familiar to you, Metalmorph!"

A mass of molten metal appeared as before and covered the Demon. His bare gears became covered in a layer of steel, causing the little light there was to gleam off his new armor and give him the appearance of an avenging angel.

"Now he's not just any Demon... He's the Ancient Steel Demon! And thanks to his up-grade he gets a few extra attack points. 300 to be exact! (Ancient Steel Demon (4550/2150)) Not only that, but when he attacks, he gets Attack points equal to half his target's!"

Torego's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "WHAT?" He squawked.

The Ancient Steel Demon raised a hand. A metal plate in his palm slid back to reveal a dull red glow inside his arm. The gears that made up his arm began to spin and as they did so the glow became brighter, a whining noise could be heard and his Attack Points rose dramatically. (Ancient Gear Demon (6050/2150))

Rusty pointed at the Ancient Gear Golem and roared. "Ancient Steel Demon! Mechanical Hellfire!"

The whining noise climaxed, then a blast of flame exploded from the Demons arm and struck the Golem straight in the chest. The heat was so tremendous it actually melted the Golems metal armor before it collapsed.

Rusty: 600 LP

Torego: 950 LP

Torego watched in shock as the Ancient Gear Golem fell into a heap of melted slag. Then he looked back at the Ancient Steel Demon and Rusty. He turned to run, but there was nowhere to go, caught in his own trap. He slowly turned back.

"I'm not finished with you yet" Rusty hissed.

The Ancient Steel Demon raised his arm again. "Mechanical Hellfire!"

The explosion sent Torego flying backwards into the alley wall. His head struck brick with a sickening thud and he slumped to the ground.

Rusty: 600 LP

Torego: 0000 LP

Rusty approached Torego's still form, his eyes smoldering with immeasurable fury. Torego's deck had been scattered everywhere from the explosion. Rusty stooped and searched through the cards until he found the Ancient Gear Golem.

"Forgive me" he whispered to the card before inserting it into his deck slot.

Then he set about gathering up Torego's other cards.

Torego started to come around as Rusty finished. "Wha--" He mumbled. "Wha're uu duin?"

"I'm taking your Deck" Rusty said coldly. "You can't do that?" "Why not? You did"

Rusty started to leave but the Ancient Gear Demon placed a restraining hand on his shoulder once again.

"Oh, all right" Rusty sighed. "I'll give it back to you"

Torego had recovered enough to reach for his deck, but Rusty held onto it.

"One day" Rusty continued. "When you become a true duelist" With that he turned and walked away.

* * *

Rusty and the Ancient Gear Demon walked home in silence until Rusty said. "Thank you"

The Demon shook his head. _**Don't thank me, you're the one who won the Duel** _

Rusty stopped and turned.

"Tell me something" He said. "You said before that you chose me. What did you mean?"

**_Every 'true' duelist, as you put it, has a bond with their cards. But a few duelists have such a close bond with their cards that they come to life as a Duel Spirit_ **

You mean like Jesse Anderson and Chazz Princeton? I've heard rumors but..."

**_The rumors were true. Usually it's just one monster, but often it's with an entire deck such as Jesse Anderson. He is also another rare case even among the people who can see Duel Spirits._ **

"What do you mean?"

**_I mean his cards, the Crystal Beasts, they chose him_ **

"Really?"

The Demon nodded. **_And, I, in much the same way, chose you_ **

"But why? Why choose me?"

**_Because I liked you._ ****_You were brave, determined, you were loyal enough to your deck to chase down a potentially dangerous thief who had just stolen a mere card. And you had a sense of humor._ **

Rusty shook his head. "I still don't understand"

**_It's all right, you will in time_ **

"I guess" They started walking again.

**There's another reason I didn't tell you **The Demon thought to himself. **If I've read the signs right, all is not well in the Spirit World, and soon, if it is not stopped, it will spread to here. And you, Rusty, are one of the few who can even hope to stop it.**

Meanwhile, Rusty was lost in his own thoughts. _Why do I get the feeling he's not telling me something? Oh, well, I'll find out soon enough. At least I got my Golem back. Man, after that Duel the entrance exams WILL be a cakewalk._

Rusty snapped his fingers as a smirk spread over his face. _Look out Duel Academy. Here I come._

* * *

****

Thank God, I'm finally done. It took me all day to finish this. Hope you liked the Ancient Gear Demon he's one of my more inspired creations. But unlike him this is one of my least favorite duels but I hope you liked it!

If anyone has any idea's of their own lemme know, I'd be glad to use them if I can.

**GAME ON!**


	3. Another Day, Another Duel

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX (But I wish I did XD)**

**Chapter 3: Another Day, Another Duel**

**Well, I finally got my first Reviews! Thanks to JudaiHaou'sGirl and WritteroftheWest! I figure since we already got a major duel in we'll just skip over Rusty's entrance exams. For one thing nothing interesting happens there, plus I've noticed it's kinda starting to turn into a chiche for fics to start there. (No offence to anyone.) So we'll fast forward to two days after Rusty's Duel with Torego. Once again, thanks to JudaiHaou'sGirl and WritteroftheWest, I wasn't planning to do any writing today but you guys (or girls) jumpstarted me. This ones for you!**

* * *

Rusty looked out the helicopter's window at the sea beneath them. The helicopter was transporting him and the freshmen year students to Duel Academy, where they would spend the majority of the next four years of their lives. There they would hone their dueling skills to their limit, meet new friends, and, hopefully, more than a few rivals...

Rusty had sat next to a boy named Issac when the helicopter took off and the two had quickly started talking about everything Duel Monsters related. Upcoming booster packs, their favorite Pro League Duelists and everything in between.

The Ancient Gear Demon hovered invisibly behind the two boy's as they chatted animatedly about the next Pro League match.

**That's odd.** The metal Demon thought to itself. **I could swear I sense a Duel Spirit nearby, but I don't see one anywhere. **

Five minutes later Rusty glanced out the window (in case you couldn't tell, he had the window seat) and spotted something down below.

"Hey, is that..." Issac leaned over to get a better look. "Yeah, I think it is"

It was Duel Academy, the legendary island in the Pacific. Half forest, half volcano. But the one feature that dominated the island was a massive white dome, the roof of Duel Academy.

The helicopter soon landed and the students began to disembark.

Rusty and Issac grabbed their carry-on bags and got off too. Once down the stairs leading down from the helicopter they both paused to admire the scenery and inhale the salt air. Standing side by side, they were a study in contrasts.

Rusty was tall, thin but still had a slightly muscular form, flaming red hair and green eyes that sparkled with mischief and were never still. Issac, on the other hand was shorter than Rusty, with dirty blond hair that fell over one eye. His eye's were ice blue that seemed to pierce right to the core of your soul, and he had a soft voice as well as the tiniest of smiles that always seemed to hang around the corner's of his mouth.

Rusty stretched. "Oh man, am I glad to be off that bird. Say, care for a Duel?"

Issac nodded eagerly. "You're on"

A girl with long brown hair overheard them as she passed. "Hey, you two" She snapped.

"We don't have time for that, we have to meet for an assembly first"

Rusty shrugged. "O.K. Where do we put our bags?"

The girl groaned and rolled her eyes. "Are you blind? You put them on the trolley over there, they'll be moved to our dorms"

She pointed to where the students were stacking their bags onto several metal trolleys near the edge of the helipad.

"O.K. So I didn't notice" Rusty turned back to the girl but she was already walking away, up to the main building.

Issac raised and eyebrow. "What's her problem?"

Rusty shook his head. "Beats me. If I didn't believe in reincarnation, I'd swear that girl was a porcupine in her last life"

The two boys laughed as they too, started towards the main building.

When they reached the Academy's main building they were directed to what appeared to be the main classroom. Stadium-like rows of desks were arranged along one wall, while a stage on the other end was dwarfed by a massive flat-screen.

They were told to line up in front of the stage, soon a tall woman with long blond hair walked in and moved to the center of the stage.

"Welcome, Duelists" She said. "My name is Chancellor Rhodes, Headmistress of Duel Academy, I am also the head of the Obelisk Blue dorm"

Issac noticed that Rusty had suddenly stiffened. "Hey" He whispered as Chancellor Rhodes continued. "Are you OK?"

Rusty glanced at Issac then looked back at Chancellor Rhodes. The action seemed like Rusty was having a neck spasm.

"Y-yeah" He replied. "I'm fine"

Issac frowned. "If you say so"

Meanwhile Chancellor Rhodes was still talking. "You have each been placed into one of three dorms, each named after the legendary Egyptian God Cards. In order of least to greatest prestige they are: Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue. Your ranking will be determined by your previous education, dueling skills and exam scores. But do not be fooled, just because you are in Obelisk does not mean that you're invincible, and in the same way, just because you're a Slifer does not mean you are a poor duelist. If anything it means you have the greatest room for improvement out of any here at the academy"

Chancellor Rhodes let her gaze sweep over the assembled students. _This should definately be an interesting year, especially if who I think is in this class._

"That is all for now Duelists. For today, relax and settle into your dorms and get to know your dorm mates. I hope you enjoy your first year here"

The Duelists buzzed as they exited and began to explore the Academy.

Issac and Rusty were about to join the crowd when Chancellor Rhodes spoke again. "Issac, would you meet with me in my office please?"

Several of the students turned to stare as Rusty and Issac exchanged confused looks.

Chancellor Rhodes noticed. "You can bring your friend along too, if you like"

Issac shrugged. "O.K."

Rusty's neck spasmed again. This time if you _really _looked close you might mistake it for a nod.

* * *

Chancellor Rhodes office was one of the highest interior points in the Academy. One wall was entirely glass, a huge window out of which you could see half the island.

Chancellor Rhodes walked around her to desk and sat down, folding her hands. Issac and Rusty stood nervously looking around.

"I suppose you're wondering why I asked to see you" Chancellor Rhodes began.

Issac shrugged. "Kinda"

Rhodes smiled. "You're not in any trouble, if that's what you're wondering"

Both boys let out a heavy breath. Issac rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "So, why did you want to see us?"

"I just wanted to inform you why you were placed in Slifer Red"

Both Issac and Rusty were wearing identical red blazers denoting their dorm ranking, Slifer Red.

Rusty frowned. "I figured he was in Slifer because--"

"--because he was a poor duelist?" Rhodes cut in. She smiled. "As a matter of fact, Issac here scored 100 on his written test and set a new school time record for defeating his Dueling Proctor"

Rusty raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you in Slifer Red?" He asked Issac.

"Issac is actually a transfer student"

Rusty's other eyebrow rose. "A transfer student? Already? The year just started today!"

"For Duel Academy mabye" Issac turned to Rusty. "I had actually enrolled in a school whose year starts earlier, but something came up and so I transferred here to Duel Academy" He turned back to Chancellor Rhodes. "I am curious as to why I was placed in Slifer Red though"

Chancellor Rhodes shrugged unhappily. "School policy. All transfer students have to start out in Slifer Red. If it was up to me I would've placed you in Obelisk Blue. I happened to see your Duel with the Proctor. I enjoy visiting the entrance exams and seeing for myself the talents of our upcoming duelists."

"What about me?" Rusty asked. "I beat my Procotor pretty fast too. So why am I in red?"

Chancellor Rhodes chewed on her lip. "It wasn't your duel, it was your test. Your test grades were...what's the word?"

"Phenomenal? Incredible? Through the roof?" Rusty supplied hopefully. "Well..." "Oh, I get it!" Rusty snapped his fingers. "My test grades were so high, the computer couldn't calculate them. They overloaded it's circuts and it didn't know what to do with me so it stuck me in Slifer Red. Right?"

Chancellor Rhodes looked amused. "Your test grades were abysmal"

Rusty fell over.

"Actually" Rhodes continued. "The last applicant to score so low was Jaden Yuki, and you scored even lower than he did!"

Rusty grabbed onto the edge of the desk and slowly pulled himself up. "Well, in that case" He gasped. "It looks like I broke a school record too, Issac"

Issac laughed, so did Rhodes. "Why don't you two go and have a look around the Academy" She suggested. "Get to know some of your fellow students.

Rusty nodded. "Thanks Chancellor" "You're welcome. Nice meeting you Issac"

Once back in the hall Issac turned to Rusty. "She never said it was nice you meet you, Rusty. Do you know Chancellor Rhodes?"

Rusty shifted uncomfortably. "Boy" He chuckled. "Nothing gets by you. Yeah, I kinda know her, we met once before"

Issac opened his mouth to ask another question but Rusty interuppted. "Hey, I'm gonna go and unpack alright?"

Issac sighed. He obviously wasn't going to get anymore information out of Rusty on that particular matter. "O.K. I'll stop by the card shop" "O.K. See you later"

Issac walked down the hallway lost in thought.

_**You can't hide forever you know** . It's not forever, just for a while to get my bearings and improve my skills before I do anything._

_**They will find you here, and they'll send someone** . Good, let them come. I need some practice._

_**You underestimate him** . I highly doubt they'll send someone too potent, he never took me seriously anyway._

_**Aren't you doing the same thing?** Just because I don't fear them doesnt mean I don't respect them._

**_You remember that._ **

The card shop was packed. Duelists from every dorm crowded into the small room. Rummaging through singles bins, buying boosters and stocking up on as many rare cards as they could. Issac, being a Slifer was pretty much ignored in the chaos. Mabye being in Slifer Red had some advantages after all. Issac found an bin of singles that was mostly ignored except by a single girl wearing the blue of an Obelisk Blue Student. She didn't seem to notice Issac, until they both reached for the same card.

"Oh, sorry" Issac rubbed the back of his neck. "You can have it" "Oh, you sure?" "Yeah, I have enough as it is"

The girl took the card and looked Issac up and down. "I saw you on the way here. What's your name?" "Issac"

"My name's Sara. You're in Slifer I take it" Sara said, gesturing towards Issac's red blazer. "Yeah, but I'm a transfer student"

Sara frowned. "What's that got to do with anything?" Issac was just about to explain when...

"Ah, HAH! Found you Sara!" Sara and Issac turned to see a massive, burly Obelisk coming towards them, shoving through the crowd like they were cornstalks.

Sara groaned. "Oh, no"

"Who is that?" Issac asked.

"Allen, that creep is convinced I'm his girlfriend"

Suddenly Allen was right there. He grabbed Sara's arm. "What do you think you're doing? Trying to hide from me?"

Sara squirmed, Allen was obviously hurting her arm. "Allen, let go! I told you I'm not going out with you!"

Allen chuckled. "Whatever you say, _honey"_ He started to pull her away. Sara tried to resist but Allen was too strong.

"Let's go somewhere where we can talk" Allen leered.

"Allen--!"

"Let her go" Issac's voice was quiet, but instantly all talk in the shop ceased. A Slifer? Standing up to an Obelisk? This was going to be good.

Allen stopped dead in his tracks. "You gonna make me? _Slifer?_ "

Allen spat the last word out as if it were a bad taste in his mouth.

Issac's face was cold and impassive.

"Let's make a deal" He said calmly. "We Duel, I win, you let Sara go and never bother her again"

"And if I win?" Allen asked.

"Then Sara goes out with you"

"Issac!" Sara cried. But Allen just laughed. "She's already going out with me, so why should I Duel you?"

Issac cursed himself silently, in this twisted ape's mind everything he wanted he could just take. But still there was still one card left to play...

Allen turned to go.

"That's right, run away" Issac sneered.

Allen froze. The entire shop gasped.

Slowly, Allen turned, his face red with fury.

Issac stood, legs akimbo. "Behind all those muscles and big words, you're nothing but a coward who's too scared to Duel even a Slifer. Look at you! You'd rather beat up girls"

Allen growled. "You're on you little freak!" He roared, spit flying from his mouth. He let go of Sara and reached inside his massive Obelisk Blue coat and pulled out a Duel Disk with blue highlights .

Issac allowed himself the smallest of grins. Despite Chancellor Rhodes warning, at least a few of the Obelisk's still thought of themselves as superior. As such, they couldn't allow an insult to their pride like that.

Sara massaged her arm where Allen had grabbed her. "Issac, you can't duel him! Allen is the third best Duelist on the island, he even defeated most of the teachers here. Not only that, he--"

"Sara" Issac cut in. "Don't worry" He looked her straight in her eyes. "I'm not"

_He say's that like it means something. _Sara thought. _But, he's only a Slifer, there's no way he can beat Allen._

"Sara" Issac interuppted her thoughts. "Do you have a Duel Disk? I don't have one yet"

Sara hesitated a moment, then ran over to the bin where they had been standing. She rummaged through a bag on the floor before pulling out a Disk with blue highlights similar to Allens.

"Here" Issac took it and slipped it on his arm.

Allen snorted. "Look at you, you don't even have a Duel Disk yet, you had to ask a girl to get one"

Issac inserted his deck. "Well at least _I _did'nt have to bully her to get it" Issac spat.

The crowd in the shop backed up and formed a circle around the two combatants. Sara watched nervously from the sidelines. Allen was one of the best duelists on the island, true. But mabye, just mabye...

"DUEL!"

Issac: 4000 LP

Allen: 4000 LP

They drew their starting hands. "You can go first" Issac said distractedly, not even looking up from his hand.

"Fine by me" Allen hissed. "DRAW!"

Allen wasted no time in making his decision. "I activate the Spell Card Ancient Rules! Now I get to Special Summon one Level 5 or higher monster right from my hand. I think I'll go with Sengenjian!(2750/2500) A massive, blue skinned behemoth, wielding several weapons appeared on the field, slobber hanging from it's jowls. "And I'll set one card face-down to end my turn"

"My turn then. Draw!" _Summoning a monster with over 2500 attack points on the first turn, he's not bad. But he's still no match for me._ Issac looked at the card he just drew. "Perfect"

Allen scoffed. "You're a Slifer. How good could the cards you have be?"

"Oh, you'd be suprised. Take this, for example. By discarding one card from my hand I can Special Summon The Tricky!(2000/1200)

A figure wearing a mask with a question mark on it and wearing a blue cape phased into view, an unearthly, high-pitched cackle sounding from all around.

"The Tricky? I never even heard of that card before. But there's no way it can beat my Sengenjian, it's way too weak"

"For now mabye, but I'm not finished"

"Next I activate the Spell Mystical Space Typhoon!" The blue tornado emerged from the card. It hovered above the two Duelists for a moment before touching down and destroying Allen's facedown. The card rose as if to activate it self, revealing the graphic of one of the most powerful traps in the game. Allen grunted as pixelated shards of his card flew past him.

"So you destroyed my Mirror Force. Big deal. I still have Sengenjian!"

"Not for long because now I activate the Quick-Play Spell Magical Dimension!

A metal cage with no bars fell from the air and crashed to the ground around The Tricky. The Tricky bowed, waving it's cape about it, it's unearthly cackle sounding again. A black sarcophagus rose from the ground and opened.

The Tricky gathered it's cloak about it and stepped back into the sarcophagus which closed about it.

"Now I Tribute one Spellcaster to Special Summon another Spellcaster straight from my hand..."

A storm of dark electricity forked from the sarcophagus as it slowly opened. A tall figure stepped out as the crowd gasped.

"Behold! The Dark Magician of Chaos!"

The legendary Spellcaster stood much taller than The Tricky. It wore a tight purple bodysuit, decorated with pinkish bands. It staff was as tall as itself and was decorated in the same fashion.

The crowd quickly began to buzz. "How did you manage to get your hands on a card so rare?" Allen asked. His face was a mixture of awe, fear and hatred.

Issac smiled. "That's my secret. Now, thanks to the Magical Dimension one monster on your side of the field is destroyed!"

Allen's eye's bulged. "What?" Chains issued forth from the sarcophagus and wrapped around the blue giant. The Dark Magician of Chaos stood aside impassively as the chains dragged the beast into the sarcophagus. It closed, then sank into the ground.

The crowd was buzzing. "No way" "That guy wiped out all of Allen's defences in just one turn!" "And I get the feeling he's not done yet"

Allen's face had gone completely white and sweat beaded on his forehead. _It's ok. _He though desperately to himself. _That Dark Magician of Chaos is strong but it can't take me down with just one attack. I still have some cards left in my hand, plus another coming to me next turn when I draw. I can still turn this around._

"I activate Premature Burial!" Issac held up a Spell.

"Wha--?" Allen squawked.

"I pay 800 Life Points..."

Issac: 3200

Allen: 4000

"To resurrect the Chaos Command Magician (2400/1900) sent to my graveyard by the effect of The Tricky!"

A blazing light appeared on the field, when it dimmed it revealed a figure in flowing green robes that were edged with gold.

The expression on Allen's face showed what he was thinking, which was exactly the same as everyone else in the room.

He. Was. Dead.

"Chaos Command Magician! Shining Staff!" The Chaos Command Magician raised it's staff and fired a bolt of pure light at Allen, dealing a goodly amount of damage to his life points.

Issac: 3200

Allen: 1600

Allen had been knocked to the ground from the blow. He struggled to his feet, his face drawn and terrified.

Issac on the other hand, was emotionless. "You've had it"

Allen started backing up. "Wait! Wait!"

"Dark Magician of Chaos! ShineShadow!"

The Dark Magician of Chaos raised it's staff high above his head and slammed in into the ground. A bolt of energy raced along the ground. It struck Allen, cutting his legs out from beneath him, sending his massive bulk crashing to the ground and wiping out the last of his Life Points.

Issac: 3200

Allen: 0000

Everything was quiet for about 2 seconds, then the room exploded into cheering. Slifer's and Ra's mobbed Issac while the Obelisk's just stood there stunned or turned their backs and walked away.

Sara fought her way through the crowd and wrapped her arm's around Issac's neck.

"Youdidit!Youdidit!Youdidit!Youdidit!"

Issac laughed and tried to break free of a couple of Ra's who were pounding him on the back.

"Oh, that reminds me. Here's your Disk back!" Issac had to shout over the din to make himself heard.

Sara was still gushing like an open fire hydrant. "That was amazing! Could you do that with any hand? Where did you get those cards?"

Suddenly, Rusty appeared in the middle of the madness. He threw an arm around Issac's shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on here?" He shouted to make himself heard.

"Issac beat Allen! Omygod, he was great!"

Rusty laughed. "Who's this? And who's Allen?"

Issac grimaced. "Give me a second, I'll get rid of everyone"

That was easier said than done. In the end Issac had to promise half the mob to help them out with homework and the other half to Duel with them sometime. Eventually the anarchy subsided, Sara rushed off to tell her friends all about the new Duelist and the two boys managed to escape.

As they walked the halls together Issac described his duel. When he finished Rusty whistled.

"Do me a favor. Remind me to _never _piss you off"

Issac laughed.

"You checked out the dorms yet?" He asked.

Rusty shrugged. "Yeah, they're alright, the rooms aren't the biggest but we do get a sea-side view. Plus,"

By this time they had found themselves in the school's gym.

There was only one person in there who was shooting hoops at one of the baskets. He wasn't wearing a Duel Academy uniform. Instead he wore a jean jacket and torn jeans, giving him the look of a biker or some skateboarder.

At the sight of him Issac froze dead in his tracks.

"Hey" Rusty said. "Are you OK?"

Issac spun on his heel. "We gotta get out of here" He started towards the door.

"Not very polite of you Issac" The figure turned to look straight at Issac. Issac froze again, then turned.

The figure was a teenager about 17 years old with long brown hair that had been pulled back and braided. He had a friendly smile on his face and he was spinning the basketball he was shooting a few minutes before on one finger.

"Why are you here?" Issac asked, his eye's were even colder than when he had dueled Allen.

"To bring you back in"

"Not gonna happen, Trace"

"Oh, come now. Despite the fact that you--"

Issac cut in. "Stop!" He held up a hand. He eye's were panicky now.

"But why?" Then it dawned on Trace. "Oh" He stopped the ball spinning and caught it as he snapped his fingers. "You still haven't told your little friend here yet. Have you? Isn't that just a _little _bit dishonest?"

"Let's make a deal. We duel and you say nothing in return. I lose, I go back without a fight"

Trace laughed. "Why should I duel you when I could just take you now?"

"Because if you win, I'll give you my deck too" Issac held up his cards. "But if I win, you leave"

Trace's eye's narrowed. "Your deck...interesting...I assume it has the--"

"--Yes. But say one word about what happened and the deal's off"

"Issac, what's going on?" Rusty asked puzzled

"I can't tell you" Issac said shortly.

"C'mon Issac. If you're in trouble I can help you." Rusty's voice had hardened.

"I'm not in any trouble" Issac growled.

"Oh, yes he is" Trace contradicted. "You see, Issac here--"

"Trace!" Issac snapped. "Just one more word..."

Trace shrugged. He produced a Duel Disk from nowhere then started backing up so as to give them room to duel.

"Rusty was torn between confusion, concern and anger. What was going on here? Just what had Issac done? And why did he refuse to open up to them? The ghostly form of the Ancient Gear Demon appeared behind him.

_Do you know whats going on?_

The Demon shook his head.

_**No, but, earlier, on the helicopter, I sensed what seemed to be a Duel Spirit nearby, but I didn't notice anything. But now it seems as if that same energy is coming from Issac and that other Duelist!** _

_But, they don't have any Duel _Spirits_, not that I see._

**_I don't see any either. But _**something **_big is going on here. And it seems as if our Issac is caught up right in the middle of it._ **

**And if it's what I think it is** **Issac had better win this. If not, this world and the Spirit World could be at stake.**

Trace raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were going to Duel, Where's your disk?"

That fact seemed to have just occured to Issac as he swore.

"Issac!" He turned as Rusty tossed him a Duel Disk.

Issac shot Rusty a questioning look as he slid it on. Rusty shrugged. "I grabbed mine at the dorm"

Issac nodded and turned back to Trace. "Ready now"

"DUEL!"

* * *

**Yeah, I know it was a little longer than the other ones but I wanted to get all this into one chapter.**

**I** **'ve been planning that little One Turn Kill of Issac's for some time now. Like It? **

**By the way I can't remember the name of the Dark Magician of Chaos's attack. Can someone help me out?**

**Please tell me SOMEONE got the joke on Rusty's name by now XD.**

**Well that's all for now, sorry it took me so long to up date, this is kinda a long chapter. If anyone has ANY ideas or questions let me know!**

**GAME ON!**


	4. Zombies Don't Drink Coffee

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 4: Zombies Don't Drink Coffee**

**Sorry I've been gone for so long but I was busy either being a lazy bum or going back and trying to bring the previous chapters up to my personal standards. But I finally got tired of the death threats so I got my lazy butt on here and banged out this chapter. But at any rate I'm back now right? I'M BACK IN BLAAAAAAAACK...O.K...maybe not...but still...**

* * *

"DUEL!"

Issac: 4000 LP

Trace: 4000 LP

Issac and Trace stared each other down as they drew their starting hands. Rusty watching intently from the sidelines.

_One thing's for sure. _Rusty commented _Issac won't be taking any prisoners._

It was true. Issac did not look like he was going to be making any rash decisions. He never took his eyes off Trace and his legs were slightly bent, as if he expected Trace to pounce on him at any moment.

Trace noticed how Issac has behaving and laughed.

"Oh, come on Issac, relax. Let's have a fun duel. Just like back when we were kids and training."

Issac didn't give an inch. "Just make your move Trace"

Rusty frowned. "Trace seems like a nice enough guy and he seems to know Issac pretty well. So why is Issac acting like this?"

The Ancient Gear Demon was still standing behind Rusty. He folded his arms.

**_Don't be too sure. Something about him doesn't seem quite right._ **

_I don't see anything wrong with him._

**_Think about it. Look how on guard Issac is? Now, you haven't known him for that long, but I can tell he always has a reason for what he does. Wouldn't you agree?_ **

_I suppose..._

Trace sighed. "If you wish. I Draw! Ooh, I like the looks of this!" He smiled, though there was no malice behind it. "You should remember this card. I Summon the Dark Assailant!(1200/1200)"

A skull headed warrior appeared on the field, a single red eye painted in the middle of it's forehead. It grasped several throwing knives between it's fingers and two sword hilts could be seen protruding from behind it's back as it leered as Issac.

"Next I'll set one card face-down and finish my turn by activating a Field Spell called Graveyard!" A dramatic change came over the gym as Trace slipped the card into it's slot.

Gone were the taped lines and the sports equipment of the school gym and it it's place were gravestones and molded rubble covered in weeds. The light from the ceiling lights were gone too, now there was only a pale, sickly green glow that seemed to come from everywhere.

Issac looked in shock at the weeds curling around his legs. "Where on earth did you get a card like that?"

Trace held up his disk. "It was a little present from Damien, one of a kind. Of course he gave it to me after you left so you have no clue what it can do"

Rusty looked around at the change in scenery. "A Field as creepy as this, you know a bad guy designed it"

The scenery was also on Issac's mind, but he was more worried about what it could do. "My turn. Draw!"

_I have no clue what this Graveyard field is capable of, so for now I'm going to have to play it safe._ He looked down at his hand._This should do. _"I Summon the Ancient Elf!(1450/1200)" As he spoke a dark haired elf wearing a suit of purple armor rose on his side of the field. It held in it's hand a scepter-like staff that held a blue gem that pulsed with light.

Trace narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. _He really has no clue what my field spell is. But he'll learn soon enough. With this one card, I can control this entire Duel. Soon I'll bring Issac back in, get promoted and as a bonus one of the Three will be mine._

"All right! Ancient Elf! Attack the Dark Assailant with Spiritual Warfare!"

The elf raised it's staff high above it's head and the blue gem began to glow even brighter. A wailing sound could be heard and Rusty covered his ears as a wave of ghosts began to surround the Dark Assailant. The zombie wavered for a moment then shattered into a shower of pixels.

Trace: 3750 LP

Issac: 4000 LP

Rusty pumped a fist. "Yeah! Now Issac is in the lead!"

Trace tilted his head. "Think so?"

Issac slipped a card into the disk slot. "I set one facedown and end my turn"

Trace plucked a card from his deck. "Draw, and now the effect of my Graveyard kicks in!"

A headstone exploded and the Dark Assailant rose from the rubble.

Issac took a step back. "But I destroyed that thing!"

Trace nodded "Exactly, see, when a Zombie-type is destroyed in battle it revives during my standby phase, with a few extra attack points!(Dark Assailant (1320/1200)"

Rusty opened his mouth in shock. "No fair! How's Issac supposed to beat those Zombies now? Each time he destroys them they'll just come back stronger than ever!"

**_You're forgetting something Rusty, that effect only activates when a Zombie is destroyed in battle. But, what happens if Issac does them in with effects?_ **

_Oh, yeah! That would work! But does Issac know that?_

**_I'm betting he will, you said it yourself, not much gets past him._ **

That fact had occurred to Issac but at the moment he was preoccupied with how to deal with the turn at hand.

Trace smiled. "I know what you're thinking" He said patronizingly "My Dark Assailant _still _can't beat your elf"

Issac didn't react, he had actually been thinking just that.

"Well, mabye _he _can't" Trace continued. "But this card can! I'm tributing the Dark Assailant..."

The Dark Assailant shattered into a heap of bones, but before they his the ground they were obscured by a dark mist

"..to Summon the Patrician of Darkness!(2000/1400)"

The mist was blown away to reveal a blue skinned figure wearing a pitch-black, red-lined cloak. It slowly raised it's head to reveal a pair of dark, dead eyes staring at Issac through a mane of white hair.

"Now you're really in trouble! But I'm not going for your Elf..."

"...I'm going straight for you! And I've got just the card to do it"

He slid a card from his hand into his disk. "Overpowering Eye let's any Zombie with 2000 or less Attack points attack you directly! So go for it!"

The Patrician of Darkness raised a hand as tendrils of shadows leeched out of the gravestones and began slithering towards Issac.

"Not this time!" Issac exclaimed. "Go! Waboku!"

A trio of robed mages appeared in front if Issac, creating a mystical barrier around him.

Trace snorted. "Is that the best you can do? I've got the Tutan Mask!"

An ancient egyptian burial mask rose from the ground, a pair of ruby's where it's eye's should be.

"The Tutan Mask negates the effect of any Spell or Trap that targets one of my Zombie monsters, like so!

The eyes glowed for a moment then fired a beam of concentrated energy that burned a hole through Waboku's mystical barrier.

Issac looked down just in time to see the tendrils curl around his legs. In a flash they had covered his entire body and begun to squeeze him tightly. Issac cried out in pain and fell to his knees as his Life Points plummeted.

Issac: 2000 LP

Trace: 3750 LP

"Issac!" Rusty called. "You O.K.?"

Issac winced in pain. "Y-Yeah, I'm alright"

Trace snorted. "I just took down your life points by half and you say you're alright? You must really be slipping Issac"

Issac growled. "You know what your problem is Trace? You never think, which is probably why you choose to hang around monsters who are just as brainless as you are. If you had stopped to look for just a second, you would have noticed you left your monster wide open! And now you're gonna pay. Draw!"

Rusty shrugged. "You got me, looks like he has some plan in store though, just look it him"

Issac had a determined look on his face and a subtle spark had just entered his eye as he looked at the card he had just drawn

"Perfect. I Summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer(1800/700)! A curtain of mist swirled around Issac's side of the field, as it vanished it revealed a man in purple robes wearing a quarter-face mask and clutching a short rope.

Trace raised an eyebrow. "An impressive monster, but it still can't take on my Patrician, just what are you planning?"

Issac let the smallest grin flicker over his face. "You sure you want to know? I'm playing Magicians Unite! For this to work I have to have at least two Spellcaster's on my side of the field, then one of them gets an Attack Point bonus!"

Kycoo smirked as a red glow covered him and his Attack Points soared. (3000/700)

"Now let's see some action! Kycoo! Attack his Patrician of Darkness!"

Kycoo raised his rope above his head and began to whirl it, faster and faster. As it did so, it began to grow and pulse with a dark aura. Suddenly, Kycoo leveled it at the Patrician of Darkness and fired. A beam of dark energy shot out and through the Patrician who groaned for a moment, then melted into a sludge which evaporated into a mist that blew away.

Issac: 2000 LP

Trace: 2750 LP

Trace groaned for a moment then prepared to draw. "All right then" He growled. "I'll--"

But Issac cut in. "I'm not finished yet, or at least Kycoo ain't! Kycoo! Dark Exorcism!"

Kycoo's rope grew again and he hurled it at Trace. The rope struck right in Trace's graveyard slot and when it came out, it was pulling the Dark Assailant and the Patrician of Darkness with it, both hanging limply in the rope's grasp.

Trace was staring, open-mouthed. "What the--"

"Surprised?" Issac asked. "Whenever Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer inflicts damage to your Life Points I can remove two cards in your graveyard from play!"

Trace snarled, and Rusty grinned. "Sweet! Let's see those walking carcasses revive now"

Only the Ancient Gear Demon remained unmoved.

**_It's too early to celebrate now, Trace still hasn't had his say in this quite yet..._ **

"Fourntately for you I can only attack with the monster targeted by Magicians Unite, so I'll end my turn here"

Trace looked over his hand. _So much for that idea, time for plan B._ "Draw! First off I'll summon the Pyramid Turtle in Defence Mode!"

The name suited the monster. The Pyramid Turtle was well...a turtle with a pyramid on it's back instead of a shell.

"Next, I'll play a little number called Ekibyo Drakmord!"

Issac looked confused. "Wha-?"

Trace smirked. "Take a look at Kycoo"

"Ky--? What the!?"

Kycoo at the moment was caught in a Full Nelson by a multi-headed, slobbering, blue skinned _thing_ .

Rusty looked disgusted and even the Ancient Gear Demon looked vaguely repulsed.

"This card happens to be a favorite of mine" Trace said fondly. "It prevents the equipped monster from attacking for two turns, and at the end of those two turns it gets destroyed. So I'll leave you with that little nugget of wisdom and a face-down"

"What_!?" Looks like I'll have to find a new strategy now...oh well_ ... "Draw!" Issac's eyes narrowed as he scanned his hand_. _

_Just what is Trace up to? I still have my Ancient Elf and he can crush that turtle no problem, Trace may be brainless, but he's not that stupid, wait a second...I know..._

"I play the Enemy Controller Spell Card, this forces your turtle into Attack Mode!"

As he spoke the Pyramid Turtle, who had been kneeling stood up slowly.

Trace smiled to himself. _Right into my hands._

"Now I'll attack with my Ancient Elf!" A barrage of spirits issued forth from the Elf's staff and began to swirl around the Turtle who groaned in pain before collapsing to the ground. As it did so the Pyramid on it's back crumbled and a dark figure began to rise from the rubble.

"Now what?" Rusty groaned.

Trace raised a hand dramatically. "Meet the Vampire Lord!(2000/1500)"

The Vampire Lord closely resembled the Patrician of Darkness with pale skin and blue hair, but the Vampire Lord wore a purple cape that shimmered as he moved.

"Whenever the Pyramid Turtle is destroyed in battle I get to Special Summon a Zombie with 2000 or less defence points straight from my deck. Nifty little trick, eh?"

Issac: 2000 LP

Trace: 2500 LP

Inwardly Issac laughed. _I knew it, now if Trace plays true to form..._

But outwardly he put on a face of concern. "I'll put one card facedown and end my turn."

Trace nodded. "My Draw, and since one turn has passed I'll activate my Trap Card, The Pyro Clock of Destiny! This moves the Turn Count forward by one, so now that two turns have passed..."

Kycoo and the blue skinned creature holding him exploded.

Trace coughed through the smoke and when it cleared he continued. "...Plus, when Ekibyo Drakmord is sent to the graveyard by it's own effect it comes straight back to my hand" He held up the card before adding it back to his hand as his face darkened.

"And now it's time to finish this Duel. By removing from play the Vampire Lord, I can Summon the ultimate Zombie, Vampire Genisis!(3000/2100)"

The Vampire Lord's handsome face contorted as his entire body spasmed. He began to grow in size, his skin turned purple and two bat-like wings exploded from his back. By the time the metamorphosis finished he had transformed into a gigangic purple hulk with horns and claws everywhere.

Issac stared up at it in horror.

Rusty just looked at it and said. "Reminds me of me in the morning before my first cup of coffee"

Everyone in the room turned to look at him. "What!?"

Trace shook his head. "_Anyway. _Vampire Genisis! Destroy his puny elf!"

Vampire Genisis hauled back a hand and slapped the elf open-handed. The shockwaves from the force of the blow sent Issac flying backwards and eradicated the elf.

Issac: 450 LP

Trace: 2500 LP

Issac lay on his back for a moment then slowly got to his feet, wincing at the bruises.

"D-draw!" He looked at the card and groaned. _I was **really **hoping to avoid this but it looks like I have no choice._

"This Duel is over!"

Trace scoffed. "So you're giving yourself up quietly? Smart choice."

Issac shook his head. "I'm bringing you down."

"With what?"

"With this. I remove from play Kycoo the ghost destroyer and the Ancient Elf..."

_Wait a second_ . Rusty thought. _This looks like the same way I summon the Ancient Gear Demon, but what is he--_

"...To Summon the Chaos Sorcerer!(2300/2000)"

An orb of silver light appeared from the source of the green glow and was met by a ball of shadows from the darkness. Both collided and began to grow, tendrils of each curling across the surface of the other. Then both melded into one then vanished.

In it's place stood a tall imposing figure.

It's skin was pale like the Patrician of Darkness' It wore a black cloak and a strange headdress. And it held a glowing sphere in one hand and a darkly pulsing aura in the other.

For the first time all Duel the Ancient Gear Demon reacted.

**_What!? Where on earth did Issac get THAT card?_ **

_Whadda ya mean?_

**_The Chaos Sorcerer is one of the rarest cards in existence, you can count them on one hand. Not only that it's extremely powerful._ **

_So where did Issac get his hands on one?_

**_I don't know, but all the questions we've had about him just got a lot deeper..._ **

Rusty grunted to himself. _Well that was a ton of new info, Can-Opener here looks like he's star struck_

Trace was in shock. "S-so you managed to Summon one of the Three. It still can't stop Vampire Genisis"

"Has it been so long you've forgotten the powers of one of the Three?" Issac sneered. "Because if you hadn't you would know the Chaos Sorcerer can remove from play any monster on the field!"

Issac looked at the Demon.

_It can do that?_

The Demon nodded.

**_Watch closely Rusty, there are people who would kill to be able to see this._ **

"Now I'll activate my face down! Dimensional Toll! Now whenever a monster is removed from play you take damage equal to it's attack points"

Trace paled. "NO!"

Issac raised a hand.

The Chaos Sorcerer hurled both spheres of energy into the air above Vampire Genisis's head. The sphere's began to spin in a circle, picking up speed until they became a blur. There was a flash of light and a portal appeared where the spheres once were. Slowly Vampire Genisis was pulled into the air and dragged into the portal roaring and struggling all the while.

All Trace could do was watch in horror. Suddenly, several tendrils shot out of the portal and wrapped around Trace. They hauled him several feet into the air and began to drain his energy. Trace screamed in pain as his Life Points were siphoned off. Finally the tendrils finished, they dropped Trace to the floor and retreated into the portal as it closed.

Issac: 450 LP

Trace: 0000 LP

The graveyard vanished to be replaced once again by the Duel Academy gym. Trace lay sprawled across the floor. Issac deactivated his disk and stalked forward to kneel beside Trace.

"You tell Damien" He hissed. "That they'll release the god cards in starter decks before I hand the Chaos Sorcerer over to him. And tell him that if he wants it that bad he can come get it himself."

Trace looked up at him, his face a mask of fury and hatred. "You..." There was no hint of the jovial, friendly duelist who started the duel.

Issac stood. "Beat it" He said. "Before I get really angry"

Trace struggled to his feet and brushed past all of them, not looking at any of them.

Issac gave him a head start then started to leave too.

"Don't ask" He said as he passed Rusty.

"I'm going to" Rusty said and he followed Issac.

Issac walked quickly down the hall way with Rusty close behind.

"What the heck was that?"

"Nothing"

"Nothing? That guy wanted something from you. And I mean WANTED. And where the heck did you get the Chaos Sorcerer anyway?

"None of your buisness"

"None of my buisness?"

Rusty grabbed Issac by the shoulder and spun him around.

"You may as well tell me cause I'm not going to stop asking"

"You may as well stop asking cause I'm not going to tell you"

"In that case..."

Rusty reached down and pulled his Disk off Issac's arm.

"...I suggest you go get yours, meet me at the Dueling Arena, and get ready for your third go-round today. I win, you tell us everything"

Issac looked him up and down for a moment then nodded. "But if I win you promise to never ask again."

"You're on. Meet me in the arena in 30 minutes"

_Look's like we'll be having our answers soon enough_

**_That or even more questions..._ **

* * *

**Next up: Issac Vs. Rusty, place your bets!**

**Seriously though, I'm curious as to who you think should win. I've already decided the outcome but I'm curious to hear your opinions**

**This chapters OC cards: Dimensional Toll and Graveyard. Hope you liked them!**

**You may have noticed or will notice soon enough that I fudge card effects sometimes, just minor things like timing usually. So cut me a little slack here, they don't really change the overall effect of the card and it makes is a lot cooler, not to mention easier for me to write...hey...like I said...I'm a lazy bum XD**

**Don't look for next chapter too soon I'm still working on previous chapters but I promise the next one will be up faster than this one**

**Sorry if this duel seemed a little simple, but I wanted to save some of Trace's tricks for later. Yes, that's right we'll be seeing him again soon enough. But until then...**

**GAME ON!**


	5. Spells and Sparks

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX **

**(** **But I DO own a butt-load of cards)**

**Chapter 5: Spells and Sparks**

**Well, everyone, now it's time for the one you've all been waiting for: Rusty Vs. Issac . Demon Vs. Sorcerer. Machine Vs. Spellcaster. Red Hair Vs. ...You get the point.**

* * *

The Duel Academy duel arena was nothing short of impressive. The main centerpeice was an elevated dueling platform surrounded by stadium-like seats. The entire arena was so large the Slifer dorm could easily fit inside. (Though that wasn't saying much)

Rusty was pacing back and forth nervously, endlessly shuffling his deck.

The Ancient Gear Demon watched Rusty in slight amusement**_. Nervous?_ **

Rusty chuckled darkly_. I'd be an idiot if I said I wern't. But I'm not too worried. I've got you ain't I?_

**_True, but even I am not sure if I can face one of the Three._ **

Rusty frowned. _Issac and Trace called it that too. Why is the Chaos Sorcerer called one of the Three?_

**_Ask Issac when you win._ **

Rusty nodded grimly_. Right_

* * *

Issac burst into his dorm, grabbed his disk and whirled, preparing to leave. Then, he stopped. Why such a rush? He had time. Better to make some adjustments to his deck now than have to deal with problems during the Duel.

With that thought he turned and sat down at one of the room's desks and fanned out his deck. The Chaos Sorcerer materialized beside him.

**_Taking your time I see._ **

_I gotta be careful, Rusty is powerful, I can tell. Did you sense that Duel Energy raidiating off him?_

**_I know, and the Ancient Gear Demon Spirit he has didn't help either._ **

_Yeah, what do you know about him?_

**_Only that he is a being of formidible power in the Spirit World_.**

_So all we really know is that Rusty uses Ancient Gears, and if that's true, then most of my Traps will be useless._

**_Which leaves us with Spells._ **

_Our speciality, and there are a few new tricks I've been wanting to try out_ ...

* * *

In due time Issac came striding into the arena, disk in hand. Rusty stood with his arms folded.

"Took you long enough. I was beginning to think you'd run away rather than explain yourself"

Issac climbed onto the platform. "Just a few last minute adjustments, I've had enough running"

Rusty shot Issac a look as the two of them took up their positions.

"Remember our deal" Issac said as he inserted his deck. "I win, you stop asking"

Rusty nodded. "But if I win, you tell us everything"

Issac activated his Duel Disk. "Ready?"

"Set!"

"DUEL!"

Issac: 4000

Rusty: 4000

"I'll kick this off if you don't mind!" Rusty said as he drew.

"I'll start by playing the Ancient Gear Castle!"

There was a rumbling and a massive, dark castle with cannons poking out like needles on a hedgehog rose up behind Rusty.

"With this in play, every Ancient Gear I control, gets a bonus 300 Attack points, and, hey, every castle needs a Knight so I'll summon the Ancient Gear Knight!(1800--2100/500)"

A stocky armor plated robot rose from the arena, holding an oversized gear as a shield and a long sword.

"Plus, whenever a monster is summoned, I get to put a counter on my Castle"

As he spoke, a particularly large and nasty looking cannon rose above the parapets, pointing straight at Issac.

Issac eyed the dark opening of the cannon's barrel nervously.

"And what exactly do _those_ do?"

Rusty tilted his head.

"Oh, you'll see, but for now I'll set one card facedown, and kick back"

"Then it's my turn and Draw!" Issac pondered his decision for a moment.

_Time to see if that extra time I spent modding my deck was wasted or well spent. With virtually no traps left for defence, my best hope will be an all out offensive._

"First off I'll discard one card from my hand to Special Summon The Tricky (2000/1200)!"

A hand reached out from nowhere and swirled the air around it like it was a cape. The air twisted, revealing the masked form of The Tricky, uttering it's hair-raising cackle.

"Next I play Cost Down! For this to work I need to discard one card from my hand. Then, all monsters in my hand have their levels taken down two notches, which is enough to let me summon the Dark Red Enchanter right away!(1700/2200)"

A bolt of black fire fell from the sky. As it crashed into the platform a figure could be seen within. The Red Enchanter blew away the flames with a swing of it's staff. The Red Enchanter was a figure dressed in velvet red robes, wearing a mask that obscured it's face as well as two shoulder pauldrons each bearing a blood red gem. The staff it held in it's hand was as tall as it was and ended in a cresent shape in which floated a blood red gem same as on the Enchanter's pauldrons.

"Plus, when he's summoned he get's two counters on him, each of which boost his attack by 300!"

Dark Red Enchanter: 2300/2200

Rusty raised a finger. "Don't forget that was a Summon, so now I get to put a counter on my castle"

Another dark cannon rose above the parapets.

Issac snorted. "Too bad you'll never get to use them. Now for the card that will seal your doom! I remove from play Breaker the Magical Warrior and the Ancient Elf to Summon the Chaos Sorcerer!(2300/2000)"

A bolt of white energy fell from the lights above and was met by a stream of darkness leeched from the shadows in the room. They twisted and contorted around each other until they created the form of the Chaos Sorcerer.

"Now you've had it! Everyone, you know what to do"

The Dark Red Enchanter led the pack, firing a bolt of dark flames at the Rusty's knight.

The Knight fell into a heap of scrap, then sank into the floor.

Rusty looked up from putting the card in the Graveyard slot just in time to see twin bolts of dark energy from the Chaos Sorcerer and Dark Red Enchanter coming at him like a couple of freight trains.

The attacks hit home, both causing massive explosions and sending a dense cloud of smoke everywhere.

Issac turned and started to walk away. "I truly am sorry, Rusty" He said. "You're a good friend, and from what I can tell and excellent duelist. But you're safer not knowing."

Rusty coughed, and for some reason, Issac didn't think it was because of the smoke. The Chaos Sorcerer reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

**_Issac? You might want to see this_ **...

Issac turned as the smoke cleared, revealing Rusty, his smirk even more smug than usual.

Rusty: 3500

Issac: 4000

Issac's jaw fell open in shock. "Impossible! You should've been finished!"

Rusty tilted his head. "I would've been, had it not been for my Nutrient Z Trap Card. See, if I would take at least 2000 damage from an attack, my life points go up by 4000 before the damage is subtracted.

Issac growled. "I end my turn"

_Incredible, he dodged my entire 6-card One Turn Kill combo with just one card. He really is powerful..._

"My turn then! I Draw!" _Time to show Rusty he's not the only one with combos..._

"Remember your asking what the counters on my castle do?" Rusty asked.

"Yes?" Issac looked wary.

"Now you're going to find out! I can send my castle to the grave to summon any Ancient Gear from my hand, so long as it has counters equal to the number of tributes needed. So say goodbye to my castle, and hello to the Ancient Gear Golem!(3000/3000)"

The castle crumbled as the titan rose from the rubble.

"And as if that wasn't enough of a headache for you" Rusty continued. "I'm also playing Double Attack! All I need to do is toss a monster and now my Golem gets to attack twice!"

Issac swallowed as the giant metal fist came roaring towards him. He grunted as the shot connected. When he looked up, The Tricky and Chaos Sorcerer were nowhere to be seen. Issac glanced down at his life point counter and swore. The Chaos Sorcerer appeared at his side.

_So much for that all out offensive._

**_My apologies Issac_**

_Not your fault, don't worry I'll get Rusty back for that._

Rusty: 3500

Issac: 2300

"And I'll end this turn by playing a Spell called Supply Convoy, now every turn during our Standby Phases by paying 500 life points we both get the chance to draw an extra card"

_500 Life Points? Pretty expensive for just a card, but I'm not complaining _

"O.K. then, My Draw and I'll take advantage of that Supply Convoy card, goodby 500 Life Points..."

Rusty: 3500

Issac: 1800

"...and hello extra card" Issac glanced at his new hand. "I'll play Magical Dimension! Now I Tribute a Spellcaster..."

A bar less cage rose from the arena around the Dark Red Enchanter, followed a split-second later by an open black sarcophagus. The Dark Red Enchanter stepped back into the sarcophagus which closed around it.

"...and I get to Summon another straight away! So say hello to the Dark Magician of Chaos!(2800/2600)"

The sarcophagus opened and the dark Spellcaster stepped out dramatically. This effect was spoiled however by Rusty raising his hand and saying "Hello!" loudly.

Issac looked at him. Rusty shrugged. "You said to say Hello..."

Issac sighed and continued. "Now the second effect of Magical Dimension activates, causing a monster on your side of the field to be destroyed!"

Rusty groaned. "Oh, come on!"

Chains shot out of the sarcophagus and smashed the Golem to peices. The chains then set about scooping the peices into the sarcophagus which closed and sank back into the ground with the cage.

Meanwhile, Rusty found himself looking down the buisness end of the Dark Magician of Chaos' staff. He smiled weakly.

"I don't suppose we could talk about this?"

In response the Dark Magician of Chaos blasted him full on the face.

Rusty was knocked backwards off the arena and into the small partition dividing the arena from the stands. He sat there for a moment, stunned. Then, he shook the stars from his vision and climbed back onto the arena.

"Oh, man" He groaned as he cracked his neck and back. "I'm gonna need a visit to the chiropractor when this is all over"

Rusty: 700

Issac: 1800

Issac folded his arms. "That'll be all for me, let's see you top that!"

_He's got a point, I need a miracle here, or I'm toast._

"Draw!" He glanced at the card and gritted his teeth.

_Not bad, but not what I need either._

**_Need a hand?_**

_You know it._

"Now I'll activate Supply Convoy's effect and draw one more card"

Rusty: 200

Issac: 1800

"Now I'll remove from play the Ancient Gear Golem and Knight"

The arena began to shake as cracks fanned out from Rusty's side of the field.

Issac looked arond in bewilderment. "Wha--?"

Rusty Smirked. "You wanted to see me top that, didn't you? Be careful what you wish for! Come on out! the Ancient Gear Demon!(2100/500)"

A section of the Arena on Rusty's side shattered and the Demon shot out.

Issac's eye's bulged.

_Is that--?_

The Chaos Sorcerer nodded.

**_The Ancient Gear Demon. Looks like you have your work cut out for you._**

There was a tone in his voice that told Issac he was duly impressed.

Rusty Smirked. "Now his effect kicks in, He gains attack equal to half the attack of the monsters removed to summon him.

Ancient Gear Demon: (2100--4500/500).

Flames rose around the Demon as his attack rose with them.

Issac growled and braced himself.

**_Ready to do this? _**The Demon asked. He raised and arm as the gears making up his arm began to rotate.

"Mechanical HellFire!" The plate in the Demon's palm slid back and a gout of flame erupted out.

The Dark Magician of Chaos hardly had time to widen his eyes before he was incinerated where he stood. The flames continued on and engulfed Issac. He cried out in pain and collapsed to one knee, panting

Rusty pumped a fist. "How's that?"

Issac coughed and knocked soot off his blazer before struggling to his feet.

Rusty: 200

Issac: 100

"You've got talent, Rusty" He complimented. "It seems I underestimated you, but not anymore"

Rusty nodded. "Good" And added almost as an afterthought. "I'll Set this facedown, that that's that"

"Good, I draw now!" Issac exhaled. "This is my last chance. I play Pot of Greed! So that's two new cards for me! Plus I play Counter-Intelligence which lets me draw cards equal to the number on your side of the field, so thats two more!"

The Ancient Gear Demon turned to Rusty as Issac drew. **_That many draws, he's up to something big._**

_I know, be careful_

Issac took a deep breath before looking at his fresh cards, then grinned.

"Up for a showdown?" He asked Rusty. Rusty Smirked. "Bring it"

"Your wish is my command. I play Monster Reincarnation so I'll toss the Magician of Faith to add the Chaos Sorcerer back to my hand"

As Issac spoke he slid a card into the graveyard as the Duel Disk spat another out.

Issac held up the Chaos Sorcerer and looked at Rusty. "You know what this means"

Rusty nodded grimly. "You're Re-Summoning the Chaos Sorcerer(2300/2000)"

As he spoke Darkness and Light was melding together.

**_Bingo_**

Issac continued. "Now I'll activate his effect to remove the Ancient Gear Demon from play!" He raised a hand but the Chaos Sorcerer interuppted.

**_With your permission Issac, I would like to take on the Ancient Gear Demon toe-to-toe_**

Rusty raised an eyebrow.

Issac shrugged. "Fine by me. I've got just the card to give you an edge. Challenge to a Duel!"

Rusty frowned in confusion. "But we're already dueling"

The Chaos Sorcerer shook his head ruefully

**_Someone needs a history lesson. Back in the old days when someone had a greivance with someone else they would challenge them to single combat to the death, a duel._**

The Ancient Gear Demon chimed in. **_However the person challenged got to choose the weapons for the duel._**

Issac nodded appreciatively. "You know your history. In this case however, Challenge to a Duel simply reverts the stats of all monsters on the field to their original states, so that means..."

The Ancient Gear Demon glowed a sickly green color as his attack points dropped like a rock.

Ancient Gear Demon: (4500--2100/500)

Rusty opened his mouth to protest but the Ancient Gear Demon ignored the loss in attack power, never taking his eyes off the Chaos Sorcerer, who did likewise.

Slowly, the two began to circle each other, hands pointed at the other.

**_I just want you to know _**The Demon said. **_I consider this an honor_**

The Chaos Sorcerer nodded. **_Likewise. Shall we?_**

"Mechanical HellFire!"

"Dark Baptisim!"

Darkness and Fire met in a colossal display of power. Both combatants sustained the attack for several minutes. The Chaos Sorcerer raised an eyebrow and slightly increased the intensity of his attack. The Demon did likewise. The Sorcerer increased it's power again. The demon followed suit.

This continued on for several minutes, Issac and Rusty holding their breath. The Duel all rested on this one battle.

After a while the Demon began to fall behind and had to strain to keep up. The Sorcerer noticed this and slowly began to press his advantage and force the fire back at the Demon. Suddenly, something snapped and the Darkness began to race towards the Demon like lightning.

Rusty's eyes narrowed. _That's far enough._

A massive explosion rocked the arena for the second time and filled the massive room with smoke.

Issac coughed through the smoke. "I win, Rusty, I'm sorry, but like I said..."

Something glinted in the smoke as it cleared.

"...you're safer not...knowing..."

The smoke had totally vanished. Standing alone on the field was the Ancient Gear Demon, gleaming in a coat of steel.

Issac's eyes widened. "Wha-?" He asked softly.

Rusty pointed, Smirking at the card, now face-up on the field.

"JUst before the Sorcerers attack connected" He explained. "I activated my facedown Trap card, Rare Metalmorph, it jacks up the attack of any Machine by 500"

Issac's mouth fell open and he fell to his knees. "So..."

Ancient Steel Demon:(2600/500)

Rusty: 200

Issac: 0000

The Chaos Sorcerer appeared and knelt beside Issac.

**_I'm sorry Issac, it's all my fault_**

Rusty shook his head. "You fought your hardest" He mumbled, still in shock.

"So did you" Rusty and the Demon, now steel-free walked over. "That was one of my toughest duels yet"

He reached out and pulled Issac to his feet. "Now it's time for you to explain everything"

Issac looked horrified and stepped back. "I-i can't i-it's too dangerous" He looked desperately at the Chaos Sorcerer who shook his head.

**_You promised them, besides they've earned it, and our trust._**

He nodded respectfully to the Ancient Gear Demon who returned the gesture.

Issac looked helpless for a second more then seemed to sag. "Fair enough" He sighed. "Let's go someplace we won't be overheard"

Issac lead them out of the arena, through the Academy and up a long flight of stairs to the roof.

Rusty sat with his back to a metal pillar while the Demon and Sorcerer stood expectantly. Issac stood with his back to Rusty and stared out at the island and the sea for a long moment

"What do you know" He said at last. "About Duel Spirits?"

* * *

**And at last it's finished. Just the ususal apologies before I sign off.**

**Sorry this took so long but we had to take our computer in for an up-grade and I've had a massive case of writers, or in this case, duelists block.**

**Hope this duel was everything you hoped for, it took me Forever to get it to work right.**

**Sorry for the cliffhanger but the explanation is so long I may have to devote an entire chapter to it. Yeah. Its that big.**

**This Chapter's OC Cards: Supply Convoy, Counter-Intelligence, Challenge to a Duel.**

**Look for the next chap inside this week, but it could be longer since schools starting this week XP Until then.**

**GAME ON!**


	6. The Truth is Stranger than Fiction

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* * *

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

**(And if you don't review I'll send my evil ninja gangster communist nazi rapping flying monkys after you)**

**Chapter 6: The Truth is Stranger than Fiction (Waaaait a second...)**

**I'm sure you've all been wondering what the heck is going on with Issac and now you'll find out. From here on out you'll either love this fic even more or you'll click Back shaking your head and never come back. This is the point of no return. **

* * *

"What do you know?" Issac asked. "About Duel Spirits?"

Rusty looked from the Ancient Gear Demon to Issac and shook his head.

"Not much" He said. "Only that they're the soul of a card that a Duelist has bonded to come to life"

Issac shrugged. "Close enough. You do know where Duel Monsters originated, don't you?"

Rusty snorted. "Of course, Ancient Egypt. Everyone knows that"

"But what most people don't know is that Duel Spirits existed back then as well"

Rusty frowned. "Really?"

"Only a small number could see them, and they all resided in the same clan, which in time came to be known as the Clan of the Ka. The people of the clan would communicate with the spirits and learn their secrets and earn their trust. In time the spirits trusted us so much they passed on their greatest secret."

Rusty leaned forward. "What was that?"

Issac half turned. "The power to transform into Duel Monsters themselves"

Rusty's eyes widened. "But that's impossible" He spluttered.

"I assure you it's not" Issac said heavily and the Chaos Sorcerer nodded in agreement.

Rusty shook his head violently as though trying to dislodge water from his ears. "I don't believe this, your just making this up to avoid telling me the real truth"

"I gave you my word didn't I?" Issac asked.

"But how is that even possible?"

Issac shook his head.

"I'll get into that later. Once the people of the clan learned of their new power they became afraid that someone would abuse the power or try to take advantage of them. So they withdrew from daily life and in time they were forgotten."

Rusty sat back listening intently.

"As the centuries passed they traveled with the balance of world power, until now they reside in Domino City."

"I live there" Rusty said. "I never met anyone like that"

The Chaos Sorcerer smiled indulgently.

**_Of course you didn't, the people of the Clan live in the slum areas, well away from most people. And anyway, you think they would've gone around showing off their powers to everyone?"_**

Rusty bit his cheek. "I guess not. But this still doesn't explain what's going on"

Issac said. "I'm getting to that. Back in Egypt, at the same time the spirits told us of this power they also passed down three cards to be used to protect our clan, and one day the world. Duplicates have been made before now but only we have the originals. In Egypt they called them the Warrior, the Wyrm and the Wizard. You know them better as the Black Luster Soldier-Envoy of the Beginning, Chaos Emperor Dragon-Envoy of the End and the Chaos Sorcerer"

"So you're a member of this clan?"

Issac nodded. "Someone special in the clan as a matter of fact" He said with a touch of pride in his voice.

"Every generation, someone is chosen to take up one of the cards and defend the Clan, this generation, it is three someones, Damien is the holder of the Black Luster Soldier and Lucien is the keeper of the Chaos Emperor Dragon and I wield the Chaos Sorcerer"

He turned to Issac. "And here's the thing" He said. "While the Black Luster Soldier and Chaos Emperor Dragon have been chosen time and time again, I am the first and only to choose the Chaos Sorcerer"

"How come?"

"In card form the Chaos Sorcerer is the weakest of the Three, both in effect and in Attack and Defence power." He glanced at the spirit as he spoke. "However it is rumored that in spirit power, it is the strongest"

Issac took a deep breath and continued. "Even as keepers of the Three go I was gifted. People who weild the three are given enhanced abilities and skills, both in the dueling arena and in channeling our spirits energy. While we lived in hiding we learned how to tap into and control various sources of power that bonding with duel spirits granted us. Keepers of the Three are exceptionally talented and powerful, espiecially me."

He looked at the sky musingly. "I must've developed a dozen new techniques for challeling our powers..." He trailed off for a moment before jolting back into focus.

"The leader of the clan is an old man known only as the Elder, he was also the one responsible for my training."

He took a deep breath and sighed before continuing in a subdued tone.

"Several nights ago the Elder told me he wanted to see me alone, at midnight. There was something he wanted to tell me. When I went to see him I found Damien standing over his dead body with the bloody sword of the Black Luster Soldier in his hand."

Issac looked down at his hands. "I freaked and ran. Damien must've heard me because he sounded the alarm and blamed the murder on me. Dozens of Clan warriors Transcarnated and came after me"

"Transcarnated?" Rusty asked.

"That's what we call transforming into a Duel Monster" Issac explained and Rusty nodded.

"I changed into something too and got away, I can't even remember what it was. Something with wings, because I remember flying and..." He trailed off, a strange look in his eyes.

"I lay low while Clan warriors searched for me, I managed to call in some favors from others and escape to here. I thought the combined Duel Energy from all the students here would mask my presence and let me get my bearings, at least for a little while"

"But someone did find out you were here, and they sent Trace to bring you in" Rusty observed. "But why didn't you try to explain what you saw the the clan?"

Issac laughed ruefully. "Because Damien was the clan's hansome, charming playboy. Who would they believe? Him or some snot-nosed kid?"

Rusty sighed. "Man, that bites"

Issac said nothing for a long moment.

"So what do we do about the next creep who comes along?" Rusty asked, standing.

Issac shook his head. "The people of the clan aren't evil, just misguided, zelaous. The Elder was well loved and the people are understandibly furious. And secondly, what's this we? As I recall, this is _my _problem"

Rusty shook his head. "Not any more it ain't. I'm standing beside you"

"Yeah, on a shooting range" Issac shot back. "Like I said it's too dangerous, and I'm not letting you get caught up in it"

**_Like it or not we're in this already._** The Ancient Gear Demon growled. **_Trace saw us during your duel and he's told the clan by now, so chances are they'll come after us too._**

The Chaos Sorcerer nodded wisely. **_Strength in numbers._**

Rusty folded his arms. "So?"

Issac sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is not my day" He muttered.

"Yeah!" Rusty cheered and clapped a hand on Issac's shoulder. "We're in this together now. One of us they'd have a problem with, both of us they don't stand a chance"

Issac winced and said. "Yeah, fine, now I don't suppose you have some Tylenol?"

Rusty turned and tore off. "I'll go ask the nurse, then we can prep our decks for the next challenger"

Issac shook his head as he watched him and the Spirit leave.

_He's got a lot to learn. He's treating this as if it's all a game._

**_I don't think so, he knows well enough what he's getting into. You should take a page from his book and relax. You look as though you have the weight of the world on your shoulders._**

Issac looked at his Spellcaster spirit dolefully_. Who say's I don't?_

* * *

**I know this is shorter than my usual fare, but trust me, the next chap will be long even by my standards with a duel and a half in it.**

**Since this is so short. I think it might be a record for me to update this fast.**

**So now that the plot's out in the open what do you think? An awesome idea or silly fangirl crap? lemme know, because I'm thinking of checking into a mental institution my ideas've been getting so corny lately.**

**Don't worry I have plot twists up the wazzo for upcoming for you. (Hey that kinda rhymed)**


	7. A Challenge of Pride

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**(But I do pwn all on YGO world championship 08 wi-fi)**

**Chapter 7: A Challenge of Pride**

**Howdy Folks! Sorry it took so long to get this up, but I told you this'd be a long one. Tack on technical difficulties, writers block and my eternal case of incurable lazyness and you get a loong wait for an update...as usual.**

* * *

As Rusty headed for the nurses office to puck up Issac's Tylenol the Ancient Gear Demon spoke up.

**_O.K. Spill it. What's going on?_**

Rusty glowered. _Issac's not telling us the whole story. If he really can shape-shift and all that, why didn't he use that against Trace?_

**_We were there _**The demon replied simply.

Rusty winced. _Point. Come to think of it, that might be why he was acting so tense that entire time. Still, there's something he's hiding, there's a lot of holes in his story and I'm gonna find out what._

* * *

Rusty kept a close eye on Issac over the next few weeks, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Issac's grades soared in class as did his popularity. Much to his chagrin he now found himself the center of attention of a small but intense fangirl club. He was sitting in the library _trying_ to finish a paper on the technology used in duel disks, but the small group of girls crowded around his table had other things on their mind.

"Hey _Issac_" One of them crooned, ridiculously batting her eyes.

Issac raised an eyebrow. "You lose a contact or something?"

At this witty remark all the girls burst into screaming peals of laughter that grated on Issac's eardrums.

"Yeeah, listen I kinda gotta..."

"So where'd you get those cards?"

"I...uh..."

"You've gotta know some kind of big-shot duelists, like someone in the pro leagues right?"

"Well..."

"Or mabye even Yugi Muto!"

"No Waaay! You know Yugi Muto?"

"I don't..."

"Is he really as short as he looks?"

"I..."

"Could you introduce us?"

"Listen! I..."

Suddenly, a new voice sounded over the din. "Hey! Isn't that Zac Effron?"

They all whirled to see a blank wall. When the girls looked back, Issac was gone and the library door was swinging closed.

Issac and Rusty raced away, down the hall.

"Thanks for the save there" Issac panted.

"No problem" Rusty laughed. "After all, Fangirls are a threat to anyone's sanity"

By now they felt safe enough to slow to a walk. Rusty looked around furtively. "So...any sign from the clan yet?"

Issac shook his head. "Damien never took me seriously, I guess my defeat of Trace shook him at least a little, he's regrouping"

"Meaning the next time he tries he'll be harder to stop"

Issac said nothing.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out then..."

However neither had much time to keep an eye out for anything. The first exam date of the year was drawing near and students began to study and duel like crazy in preparation for the upcoming written and practical exams.

On the day of the test Issac blew through his written in record time. He waited outside the exam hall for several minutes until Rusty emergered. The two of them fell in step as the headed towards the arena for their practical exam.

"How's you do on the test?" Rusty asked.

Issac rolled his eyes. "You kidding? I thought at first they gave me a paper intended for pre-schoolers. Honestly, with exams that easy it a wonder anyone get's rejected to go here. You?"

Rusty Smirked. "Even easier for me. All I had to do was put down 'Chuck Norris' for every question I didn't know"

Issac shool his head. "No wonder you got stuck in Slifer"

Rusty laughed.

When they reached the arena the exams were in full swing.

Explosions mixed with the screams and shouts of monsters. Cries of joy mingled with wails of despair.

Rusty closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was in Heaven!

Issac punched him in the shoulder. "C'mon, let's find a seat while we wait."

As they climbed the stands a girl sitting with a thick book on her lap and a PDA in her hand waved to them.

Issac returned the wave and started over, Rusty in tow.

"Hey, Sara, how's it going?"

Sara beamed. "Great, you?"

"Oh, the same. Allen been giving you any more trouble?"

"Nope. He's actually avoiding me now" She giggled.

Rusty interuppted. "Meanwhile, back at the ranch..."

Issac turned. "Who's this?" Sara asked.

"Oh, this is Rusty, my roommate" Issac explained as the two of them sat down.

Rusty nodded in greeting and gestured towards the book and PDA in Sara's hand. "What're those for?"

"Oh, these? Just working on my database. I'm trying to create a database of every card in the game"

Issac raised an eyebrow. "Sounds hard"

Sara shrugged. "Yeah. But I try to watch major dueling events like these to help me gather information faster"

"You already have your duel yet?" Rusty asked.

Sara shook her head and laughed. "Oh, no. I'm not a Duelist. I'm here studying to be a card designer, so I'm taking a diffrent course of study than you"

Issac was impressed. "Really?"

Sara nodded. "I already took my written test, so I'm just out here to gather information"

They continued to talk for several more minutes, observing the duels going on below and commenting on the various strategies and tactics.

Rusty's name was called during that time. He left and came back five minutes later, Smirking.

"How'd you do?" Sara chirped.

Rusty shook his head ruefully.

"Poor sap tried to pull an Odion from Battle City and ran a deck that was all Traps"

Issac burst out laughing. Sara raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"I run Ancient Gears" Rusty explained. "Ooohhh" Sara giggled. "Poor guy"

Rusty nodded. "I almost felt sorry for him...almost"

"Having fun?" The three of them looked up to see the amused face of Chancellor Rhodes.

Issac brought his laughter under control. "Oh, Y-yes, Ma'm" He said, wiping a tear from his eye.

Rhodes smiled. "Good. I've set up a special opponent for you, Issac"

"A special opponent?" Sara asked.

"Normally Duelists face opponents from their own dorm in these exams. But I felt Issac is capable enough to handle someone with a higher rank"

"He has before" Rusty pointed out.

"Quite. Which is why his opponent will be a duelist from Ra Yellow. Defeat this opponent Issac, and you too, will become a Ra"

Issac snorted gently. "No offence ma'm. But a Ra won't pose _that_ much of a challenge. I've already taken down a few Obelisks"

Chancellor Rhodes smiled gently. "Pride goeth before a fall. But if what you say is true, you should have an easy match" With that she turned and walked away.

Issac slid his deck into his disk. "Poor guy, He doesn't stand a chance"

"Uh, just one problem, Issac" Rusty said staring down into the arena. "Threre's only one Ra down there"

"So?"

Rusty pointed. "It's Porcupine!"

Sure enough, the long haired brunette from the landing pad on their first day was standing in the arena, tapping one foot and glaring up into the stands at Issac.

Issac stared back, then turned to Rusty grinning. "I'm going to enjoy this"

* * *

The girl was waiting at the Arena for Issac when he walked up. "Porcupine?" She snapped as she inserted her deck.

Issac's eyes widened. "Jeez, you have the hearing of a bat."

"Oh, so I'm a bat now am I?"

"That's not what I mean--"

"Just shut up and Duel!" She growled as she activated her disk.

"Do you have a name?" Issac asked as he turned his on as well.

"Sandra"

"O.K. Sandra..."

"LET"S DUEL!

Sandra: 4000

Issac: 4000

"Laides first!" Sandra snarled as she drew.

"First off I'll summon The Six Samurai-Nisashi! (1400/700)"

A burly figure wearing green armor rose from the arena. It clutched two long katanas which it twirled, creating a malestrom of air around it.

"Plus, when I have a monster with 'Six Samurai' in it name in play, I can Special Summon the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai! (2100/800)"

A second warrior rose onto the field. This time it was an old warrior, with long white hair, a single long sword and an eyepatch.

"I'll also play Shien's Castle of Mist to end my turn!"

As Sandra spoke a large, dark, Japanese feudal castle rose on the field, mist pouring off it.

Up in the stands Sara but her lip. "I hope Issac know's what he's doing, the Six Samurai are some of the toughest monsters in the game to beat"

Rusty shrugged. "Ah, Issac can handle 'em"

People in the stands had begun to notice Issac on the field and all attention quickly shifted to his Duel.

"Impressive start" Issac commented as he drew. "I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer! (1800/700)"

Sara groaned. "Issac, no!"

"What's wrong?" Rusty asked.

"Issac's in way over his head. That castle decreases the attack of any monster targeting a Six Samurai by 500!"

"What?" Rusty yelped. "Issac, stop!"

It was too late. Kycoo hurled it's rope at Nisashi who caught it deftly on one hilt. With one swift movement he had pulled Kycoo off balance and towards him where Kycoo was dispatched with a swift swipe.

Issac: 3900

Sandra: 4000

Horror dawned in Issac's eyes as he realised what had happened.

"Not so tough now" Sandra sneered.

Issac growled. "So I made one mistake. I'll set a card and end my turn"

"And I'll end this!" Sandra shouted as she drew. "Grandmaster, Attack him directly!"

The grizzled warrior unsheathed his sword and charged, leveling a devastating blow at Issac.

"Not this time!" Issac cut in. "I activate Draining Shield!"

The Grandmaster's sword struck a green force field, sending shockwaves across it.

Sandra growled as Issac continued. "Now I get Life Points equal to your Grandmasters Attack" As he spoke a green aura surrounded him.

Issac: 6000

Sandra: 4000

"Don't forget" Sandra said pointing to Nisashi. "I still have him, and since there's another monster with Six Samurai in its name on the field, he gets to attack twice!"

Nisashi charged, dealing Issac a swift blow from each sword before retreating to Sandra's field.

Issac was clutching one arm and panting from the aftermath of Nisashi's assualt

Issac: 3200

Sandra: 4000

The arena was buzzing as Rusty remarked nervously. "Issac better start playing like he means it soon, he can't take much more of that"

"I'll set a card and leave it to you" Sandra said, inserting a card. "Everyone said you were all tough and everything, but from the look of things your're just another Slifer"

Issac looked up a dangerous look in his eye. "Watch what you say" He snarled pulling the top card from his deck with more force than was really needed.

"First I'll Summon Breaker the Magical Warrior (1600/1000)"

A figure wearing elaborate blood red armor and holding a shield and sword strode out of the mist.

"Plus, when he's summoned he get's a counter which raises his attack by 300!"

Breaker glowed for a moment as a gem on his shield lit.

"But that counter has another effect too! I can remove it from Breaker to destroy a spell or trap card. Breaker! Give her a live demo and destroy that sand castle!"

Breaker raised his shield and beam shot forth from the gem, lancing straight through the castle which crumbled.

All around the arena people had started to cheer for either Sandra or Issac. Even the other Duelists having their practical exams had stopped to watch.

Sandra showed no emotion as her castle crumbled behind her. "You done yet?"

"No" Issac sneered. "Funnily enough I'm not. I'm also playing Premature Burial, so I cough up 800 life points and the grave coughs up Kycoo!"

Issac: 2400

Sandra: 4000

Issac continued before Kycoo even fully finished materializing. "Now I play Magician's Unite which increases Breaker's Attack to 3000!"

Breaker glowed again as his sword grew. "Time to show this chick what swordfighting's all about!"

Breaker raised his sword and charges Nisashi. Suddenly the Grandmaster jumped in front of Breaker, sword raised as if to block. Breaker's sword sheared straigh through the Grandmaster and his sword both. The old warrior groaned for a second then exploded into pixels.

"What was that?" Issac demanded.

"That was another effect of the Six Samurai" Sandra explained "If one of them would be destroyed I can choose another to be destroyed instead, however I still take damage as if you had attacked Nisashi"

Issac: 2400

Sandra: 2400

Rusty pumped a fist. "Yeah, now that's the Issac I know!"

Sara however was frowning. "Why did Sandra destroy the Grandmaster? He was way stronger"

Rusty shrugged. "How should I know?"

Sara shook her head. "Sandra's got something big up her sleeve"

Sandra drew and barely even glanced at the card.

"I'll Summon the Six Samurai-Zanji!(1800/1300)"

A figure wearing golden armor similar to Nisashi rose to the field, grasping a long spear.

"Next, I'll equip Nisashi with the Legendary Ebon Steed! This increases his attack by 200!" An armored jet-black horse trotted onto the field, smoke pouring from it's nostrils, it's eyes as red as a flame.

The Six Samurai-Nisashi: (1400-1600/700)

Nishashi put one foot in the stirrup and swung into the saddle.

"Finally, I'll activate my facedown trap: Swift Samurai Storm! Now, after a Six Samurai battles all Six Samurai gain a bonus 300 attack points!"

Rusty looked worried. "I'm assuming that was the big thing up her sleeve"

Sara nodde mutely.

"Time for a spot of payback! Zanji! Wipe out his Breaker!"

Zanji charged and swung his spear straight through Breaker who dissolved into peices.

Issac: 2200

Sandra: 2400

"Now they both get 300 more attack points!"

The Six Samurai-Zanji: (1800-2100/1300

The Six Samurai-Nisashi: (1600-1900/700)

"Nisashi! Take out Kycoo!"

Nisashi charged forward on the horse, swiping Kycoo to shreds as he passed.

Issac: 2100

Sandra:2400

Nisashi continued his charge, giving Issac the same treatment as Kycoo, before wheeling his horse around and trotting back over to Sandra.

Issac had been knocked to one knee by Nisashi's attack. "I'm really starting to hate that guy" He growled as he struggled to his feet.

The additude in the arena was electric now, anyone would've though that your average pro-league match was going on inside.

"I'll set a card and call it a turn" Sandra folded her arms. "I must say Issac, your not showing me anything new here"

"Keep watching" Issac snarled. "I'll show you plenty, you've never seen before. Draw!"

"I'll play Cost Down! Now I toss a card and all monsters in my hand get demoted by two levels! So now I can Summon Dark Red Enchanter right away. (1700/2200)

A pillar of red fire rose from the arena. The figure of the Dark Red Enchanter becoming visible as the fire died down.

"And now that he's summoned he gets two counters on him, each of which raise his attack by 300!"

Dark Red Enchanter. (2300/2200)

Rusty shook his head. "A move like that? The man's getting desperate, I know he can do better than that..."

"Time to exterminate that pest for good" Issac growled. "Attack Nisashi!"

The Enchanter dashed forward, flames gathering around the tip of it's staff.

Sandra's eyes flashed. "Big mistake! I play Covering Fire! Now a monster on my side of the field gets attack ponts equal to another monster!"

The Six Samurai-Nisashi (1600-3400/700)

Simletaiously Nisashi and Zanji raised their weapons and counter-charged.

Issac's eyes widened. "No! Enchanter! Break it off!"

Sandra's lip curled. "Too late"

The two samurai tore through the Dark Red Enchanter like tissue paper, before continuing on and tearing Issac to shreds.

Issac slumped to his knees as his life points hit rock bottom.

Issac: 0000

Sandra: 2400

The Arena was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"No way" Rusty whispered.

"Issac...gave it up" Sara replied in similar tones.

Slowly a buzz broke out among the collected assembly.

Sandra snorted as she turned and walked away. "You were right about one thing"

"Wha's zat?" Issac mumbled, still in shock.

Sandra flipped her hair over one shoulder and turned to look over the same.

"I've _never _seen a Slifer suck so bad" She flashed a wicked grin at him and sauntered off.

Issac got to his feet as Rusty and Sara rushed over.

"You O.K. man?" Rusty asked worriedly.

Issac looked at him. There was a dangerous fire raging in his eyes

"Oh, yes" He growled. "I'm fine. But I won't be able to say the same for Porcupine once _I'm _through with her."

Sara clutched her book to herself and shivered.

* * *

Issac's anger showed no signs of abating over the next few days. Whenever Rusty would try to talk to him he would recieve curt replies or thinly veiled threats. This was not helped by the stares and whispers directed his his direction whenever he passed students in the halls. There was one bright side to this though. Issac's fangirl club had abandoned him and started clinging to Sandra like barnacles.

Rusty and Issac were leaving their last class of the day (Issac had broken four pencil leads in one period alone) when Issac suddenly perked up.

"Gotcha" He snarled.

Rusty looked up from rooting around in his bag to see Sandra farther down the hall, surrounded by her fanclub.

"Issac..." Rusty started to say, but Issac was already hurrying towards them.

"Hey!" He snarled. The girls turned and a few kept on turning, trying to mask giggles.

Sandra tossed a lock of brown hair over a shoulder and glared at him.

"What do _you _want?"

"A rematch"

Sandra snorted. "Forget it, I already beat you once. What fun is taking on someone I already beat?"

Issac's eyes narrowed. "About the same as taking on a coward with a bigger mouth than game"

Several of the girls gasped. Sandra folded her arms and stepped towards Issac.

Rusty started forward as did some of Sandra's friends, in case they had to pull them apart.

"Sandra..." One of the girls said worriedly.

"Go on" Sandra snapped. "I'll be fine"

The girls reluctantly started off down the hall. Sandra leaned in and whispered so only Issac could hear.

"The beach east of the Slifer dorms. Midnight. Be there."

Issac stared into her eyes, not giving an inch.

"I wouldn't miss it for the God cards"

Sandra turned and started after her friends. Once she was out of sight Issac turned and tore off in the oppisite direction.

Rusty shook his head as the Ancient Gear Demon phased into view beside him.

**_Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly?_**

_Because it is. _Rusty thought grimly.

* * *

Rusty lay on his bunk in the dorm that evening, trying to read a book.

The door banged open and Issac stumbled in, weighed down by an insane amount of bags.

Rusty watched in shock as Issac collapsed in the middle of the floor and upended the bags, sending a cascade of booster packs sliding across the floor.

"Geez, Issac wha'd you do, buy out half the shop?"

Issac shrugged and started tearing into packs with an almost demonic energy.

"Gotta be ready" He growled, "There's no way I'm letting Porcupine treat me like that again"

"Treat you like what?" Rusty asked, Issac kept ripping through the packs.

Rusty rolled off his bunk. "Whoah, Issac. Hang on a second." Issac ignored him.

Rusty grabbed his wrist, stopping him from opening _yet _another pack. "Stop a second, man. What's the deal?"

"What d'ya mean?" Issac growled.

"I mean _this_" Rusty said, gesturing around at the foil wrapped cards scattered across the floor.

"What's the big deal?"

Issac clenched a fist. "I'll tell you what the deal is, she beat me"

"Yeah, but I beat you too, and you didn't go around acting all homicidal"

"_You _didn't humiliate me in front of the entire school"

"So you're saying just be cause you got beat in front of some spectators that now you're out for blood?"

Issac went back to opening packs.

Rusty furrowed his forhead. "Is it really so impossible for you to believe that there's someone out there who's better at Duel Monsters than you?"

Issac shot him a look that could've made flies drop dead in mid-air.

Rusty shrugged, climbed back on his bunk and opened his book.

"O.K."

* * *

Rusty was in the middle of a dream involving squeeze tubes of chocolate, indians, washed up ex-prize fighters and monkey wrenches when Issac shook him awake.

"Wha--?" Rusty raised his head and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Midnight" Issac whispered "C'mon, let's go"

Rusty was wide awake by now. "Oh, no you don't, you're not dragging me into this" He said and rolled back over.

Issac shrugged. "Fine"

And drug him out of bed instead.

* * *

The two Slifer duelists hurried through the night, skirting the forest, heading for the pre-determined location.

"If we get caucht you know" Rusty panted. "We're in serious trouble"

"Then we don't get caught" Issac hissed.

"Easier said than done" Rusty grumbled.

The Ancient Gear Demon and Chaos Sorcerer hovered high overhead, watching to two boys bicker.

The Chaos Sorcerer shook his ruefully. **_I was hoping Issac's defeat would knock some sense into him._**

**_He was always this proud?_** The Ancient Gear Demon asked.

**_In a way. Issac was always very proud of his powers, never arrogant mind you, just proud. He would never flaunt them or try to make others inferior. He was too kind for that. But he came across that way anyway. Even when he was simply practicing, others would accuse him of showing off. He was always glad to help others out though. If they needed help of any sort. But if anyone insulted him or made disparaging remarks..._**

**_I see. Don't worry though, Rusty's with him, he'll keep an eye on him._**

The Chaos Sorcerer raised an eyebrow.**_ This from the Duel Spirit of the boy who tried to break-dance on asphalt?_**

The Demon grimaced.**_ Point, but Rusty's a good kid, he's good at thinking on his feet, it's just thinking in general that gets him._**

The full moon was high and bright as Issac and Rusty reached the designated beach. Sandra materialized from the nearby forest, her hair blowing in the light wind like a wraith.

"What, no backup?" Issac sneered.

"I didn't see the reason to drag them out of bed for nothing." Sandra shot back. "Once you've seen one Slifer get it's butt kicked, you've seen them all"

Rusty looked from one to the other. "I'm done trying to talk you out of this" He sighed. "I'm just standing back so I don't get caught in the cross-fire"

"Too late" A voice drawled.

The three of them turned to see two new figures come striding over a nearby hill.

The voice continued "You're involved"

The newcomers moved into a pool of light. They we're both tall and slender, but the similarites stopped there. The speaker had jet black hair, a black leather jacket, dark eyes and a necklace of a skull. The other had light blonde hair, wora a pale blue button-down and had a cross dangling from one earlobe.

The one wearing black looked easily over the three stunned students. "We're here for Issac"

Issac was in shock. "D-Drake, J-umien! What're you doing here?"

"I'd think it's obvious" The blonde said in a cold, soft voice. "We're here to kill you" He raised a Duel Disk.

Sandra was looking from one to another, shock and indignation written all over her face, her mouth opened and closed as if she was about ot make an objection but nothing came out.

The dark haired one sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Seriously, Jumien, do you have'ta be so dramatic?"

Jumien didn't reply, he was still glowering at Issac.

"I-Issac just who are these?" Sandra sputtered.

"I'd think it's obvious" Rusty growled. "They're from the Clan aren't they?"

Issac nodded.

"Clan? What Clan?" Sandra asked.

"None of you're buisness" Jumien growled.

Sandra's eyebrows shot up. "Ex-ca-use me?"

Rusty groaned. "You just had to get her started, didn't you?"

Drake shrugged and looked over at Issac. "There's no reason we can't solve this peacefully" He said in a reasonable voice. "Just give us the Chaos Sorcerer and we'll be on our way"

Issac started to say something, but Jumien beat him to it. "NO!" He roared. "He killed the elder! We kill him!"

"I don't suppose you'd believe me if I told you Damien killed him?" Issac asked hopefully.

The look in Jumien's eyes was answer enough.

Drake bit his cheek. "I was really hoping to avoid this"

As he spoke the wind picked up, and dark tendrils of mist began to ooze from behind Drake and Jumien.

Issac's eyes narrowed. "Wha-- This almost looks like a transcarnation but..."

"Close" Jumien hissed. "We've bonded with the Fiends!"

Issac's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? The Fiends will eat your souls!"

Drake leered, his eye's distorting unsettlingly as did his voice. "Not quite. This is a new technique of Damiens. We've simply made a deal with the Fiends. They lend us their power in our Duels, and in return they get the souls of the losers. Of course the face that they're Fiends we've bonded with, means they give us so much extra juice, it's almost impossible for us to lose!"

Issac shook his head repulsed and blew through his nose. "You're mad"

"Our orders were to come here and duel you, and if one of us was to fall the other would take his place. But since the lady was about to duel, I see no reason to deprive her of the pleasure"

Sandra narrowed her eyes.

"No way!" Rusty shouted. "Let me duel beside Issac instead"

"Forget it" Jumien sneered. "We've been watching you lately, I'd think you're conqueror dueling beside you should prove quite interesting"

The dark mist congealed and oozed around the four figures forming a ring.

Rusty stepped back. "Oh man, this is not good"

Drake leered. "You have no clue"

"Listen Slifer" Sandra hissed. "I have no clue what's going on here, but don't think you're off the hook. You just stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours, Deal?"

"Deal"

Drake tsked and shook his head. "Now children. that's now way to play, you need to support each other, or as Jumien said so elegantly..." He raised a disk. "We'll kill you...or at least your souls"

"I hate to say it" Rusty clenched his fist. "But he's right, you need to work together"

"And _you _stay out of everyone's way" Sandra snapped at him.

Rusty winced as the sound of four duel disks activating reached his ears.

"DUEL!"

Issac & Sandra: 8000

Drake & Jumien: 8000

"In the immortal words of Obi-Wan Kenobi..." Rusty whispered to his Duel Spirit who had just appeared beside him. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

* * *

**Dun Da DAAAH! O.K. O.K. I know I promised two and a half duels this chapter, but it's such a long one I figured this'd be enough. Besides, I've never written a Tag duel before and I need time to work on it. **

**I'm starting to notice a pattern of absurdly long waits between chapters (or is it just me) but I promise I'll try to cut those down and get the next chapter up ASAP.**

**Insert usual A/N's here: please review, any suggestions, blah, blah, blah (It's a bad sign if you can tell what the blahs are from memory, just so you know...) 'Till Then...**

**GAME ON!**


	8. Oppisites Detract

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**(Insert witty "ownership" remark here)**

**Chapter 8: Oppisites Detract**

**Whoof! Told you I'd be trying to get these up faster. This was a long one too. Writing this Tag duel wasn't as hard as I thought but it still was a challenge to write, hope you like it. I've been thinking: if this was an anime what would it's intro be? Then I got an idea, just take your favorite scenes (duel or otherwise) and play them in your minds eye to the accompaniment of the Foo Fighters The Pretender. Instant intro 8D...maybe not... Please pardon any typos, I've been having some problems with my computer and I can't catch them all...sorry**

* * *

Rusty looked nervously from Issac and Sandra to Drake and Jumien as they drew.

Issac & Sandra: 4000

Drake & Jumien: 4000

"Ladies first!" Drake bowed while leering at Sandra.

She growled at him and drew. "First I'll play The Six Samurai - Kamon! (1500/1000)" A short, stocky warrior rose onto the field. He was dressed in a suit of odd armor, made up of what seemed to be sticks of dynamite, one of which he was tossing from hand to hand, a mischievous grin on his face.

"And now that I control a Six Samurai" Sandra continued, pulling a card from her hand. "I can also summon the Grandmaster of the Six Samurai! (2100/800)"

The wizened warrior rose, taking his place next to Kamon, whom he shared an amiable nod with.

"I'll set a card and that's my turn" She concluded.

Jumien sneered "That the best you have? Pathetic. Draw!" He exhaled through clenched teeth, a mad look in his eye.

"I'll start with Curse of Fiend!" He held up a card.

"What's that do?" Rusty asked.

"Quite simple" Drake sounded bored. "It forces all monsters to switch their position"

"What?"

Before the word was out of Sandra's mouth, both her Samurai were on their knees.

"And I'll finish them off with this. Asura Priest! (1700/1200)"

Jumien slid a card into the field slot on his disk and a figure descended from the moon overhead.

The Priest was a blue skinned, four armed spirit dressed in Indian robes.

"And I'm still not finished" Jumien snarled. "I'll equip it with the Fairy Meteor Crush, which means even if a monster's in defensive mode you'll still take the damage"

Sandra started to say something but before she could speak, the Asura Priest made it's move.

Beams of light shot out of each of it's four hands, converged into one, then split back into two, striking and incinerating both of Sandra's Samurai. The beams continued on, striking Sandra and Issac straight in the gut.

Issac & Sandra: 2400

Drake & Jumien: 4000

Issac coughed through the smoke, then he snarled "What was that?" He asked Sandra. "Now you've gone and lost our only monsters!"

"Our monsters?" Sandra asked, her voice high pitched. "As I recall the Six Samurai are MINE!"

"Well if they're yours, you should've protected them better, you not only lost them, but almost half our Life Points!"

The two were standing nose to nose, you could almost see the steam coming out of their nostrils.

"Hey you two!" Rusty snapped. "This is no time to be fighting, if you don't start working together these two freaks'll wipe the floor with you."

Issac snorted and turned away. "Forget it. I can finish this all on my own"

Drake sighed melodramatically "Oh well, I guess it's no use talking sense to you. You done, Jumien?"

Jumien set a card and nodded.

"My Draw!" Issac considered his hand for a moment.

**_They're right you know_** The Chaos Sorcerer spoke into his ear. **_You need to work together._** Issac ignored him.

"I'll discard a card, and summon The Tricky! (2000/1200)"

He slid a card into the grave slot and The Tricky's masked head popped out of the sand at their feet. Everyone looked at it for a moment. It swiveled right and left for a moment, like a prairie dog. Then, it leapt from the sand to Issac's field, emitting it's eerie cackle.

Drake raised an eyebrow. "Interesting monster you've got there" He turned to Jumein. "Hope you don't mind?" "Not at all" Jumien leered. "Then I'll activate Hidden Soldiers! Now that you've summoned a monster, I get to summon a Dark monster of my own"

He plucked a card from his hand and a large, purple floating sphere appeared, covered in crusty brown gunk.

Sandra looked vaguely repulsed. "What is _that_?"

"This is the Giant Germ(1000/100)" Drake explained.

_The Giant Germ? _Rusty thought. _Isn't that the monster that..._

**_Yes._**

_Oh, boy..._

"Big mistake" Issac smirked. "You left him in Attack Mode!"

Drake seemed boredly surprised. "Oh, so I have. I guess you'd better destroy it. That's what I get for being so careless"

"Your wish is my command" Rusty growled as The Tricky hurlted forward.

_I knew it..._

The Tricky's fist shattered the Germ like a wet balloon, as it did so, a shockwave emitted from the germs remains, striking Sandra and Issac hard.

Issac & Sandra: 1900

Drake & Jumien: 3000

"What was that?" Issac gasped for breath.

"That was the effect of the Giant Germ" Jumien sneered. "Whenever it's destroyed the opponent takes 500 points of damage"

"And I get a new Germ to take it's place" Drake continued, as the remains of the first germ, which had not quite hit the ground, rewound and reformed into another floating orb"

"Now who's the clumsy one?" Sandra sneered at Issac.

"Oh, shut up"

"I mean you're supposed to be a big shot and you can't even handle a level two Fiend. And what is up with _that_?" Sandra turned to the two Clan members.

"Fiends and Fairies? Could you get anymore chiched?"

"You should talk" Drake smirked. "You're the ones running Warriors and Spellcasters"

"I'll set a card and end my turn" Issac said sullenly.

Drake sighed. "If you insist" He drew. "And now the _real _duel begins! Because now I can Tribute the Giant Germ to Summon the Sky Scourge Invicil!(2200/1600)"

An old emancianted figure rose from the ground, emitting a cackle that was eerily reminiscient of The Tricky. It wore a black dress had white hair and a small set of wings protruding from behind it's back.

"Oh, no" Issac breathed.

"What is it?" Rusty asked.

"The Sky Scourges"

"_So_? What are they?" Sandra asked irritably.

"In short? Overpriced and underpowered imitations of the Chaos or Envoy monsters. Whereas an Envoy needs only a Dark and Light monster to be removed to be summoned, the Sky Scourges need exact amounts of Dark Fiends and Light Fairies. Their effects are also weakened in comparison to the Chaos monsters, but even weakened versions are still a force to be reckoned with."

"Got that right" Drake cut in. "Take your friend Invicil here for a moment, since he was tributed with a Dark Fiend monster all your Trap cards are useless!" He said, pointing to the two face-downs floating in front of their respective owners.

"So that charlatan of yours" Jumien hissed. "Is finished"

Invicil opened it's mouth and shrieked, sending shockwaves that battered The Tricky until it shattered into pixels.

Issac & Sandra: 1700

Drake & Jumien: 3000

"I think I've inflicted enough pain on you for now" Drake folded his arms. "Your turn"

Sandra pulled the top card from her deck with a gentle _snick_-ing sound. "Watch closely, Issac" She said condescendingly. "I'll show you how a true duelist deals with a challenge"

Issac growled as Sandra continued. "Since there are two 'Six Samurai' with different names in my grave I can remove them from play..." The cards were spat out of the disk and Sandra tucked them in a pocket. "...to summon Enishi, Shien's Chancellor!(2200/1200)"

A middle-aged, dark haired man, wearing ceremonial robes and a sword, strode onto Sandra's field.

"Looks to me like they're pretty well matched" Drake said, slightly impressed.

"Not if I use Enishi's effect!" Sandra contradicted. Enishii drew his sword and swung it, releasing a wave of light that hurtled towards Invicil as Sandra continued. "Enishi can destroy any face up monster!"

The wave engulfed Invicil and both vanished instantly. Jumien growled and Drake clapped his hands slowly. "Not bad..." He said slowly.

Sandra ignored him."Since I used his special effect Enishi can't attack this turn, so I'll set a facedown, and end my turn"

"Draw, then" Jumien said, he was about to make a selection when Drake cut in.

"Just a thought, friend"

"Eh?"

"I think we've had enough of the offensive for a while, don't you"

"Gotcha, good point. In that case I'll start off with Graceful Charity, so I draw three and toss two" He said, drawing and discarding as he did so. "And I'll finish by summoning Marshmallon in defence mode!(300/500)"

An oversized, upside down, marshmallow with a face popped onto the field, bouncing energetically.

Issac scoffed. "That's your big defensive monster? Now that's just sad" He drew and slapped a card into it's slot quickly.

**_You see how Drake and Jumien confer and make suggestions? _**The Chaos Sorcerer asked. **_You and Sandra need to work that way, there's a reason why you two are losing... _**

Issac ignored him. "I summon Kycoo the Ghost Destroyer!(1800/700)" The familiar masked, purple robed figure came to Issac's field, swinging it's short rope, idly.

"Kycoo! Take out that puffball!" Kycoo's rope extended and shot towards the oblivious Marshmallon.

Jumien shook his head. "Big mistake"

The rope struck Marshmallon and rebounded, bringing a bolt of light with it.

The light hit home, hammering the Slifer and Ra's Life Points hard.

Issac & Sandra: 700

Drake and Jumien: 3000

"Now what?" Rusty groaned.

"Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle" Jumien snapped. "Not only that, but anyone foolish enough to attack it, gets pummeled for 1000 points of damage"

"Fine then" Issac growled. "I'll just take him out with Enishi"

The wave of light returned and obliterated Marshmallon.

"You've got to stop rushing in blindly!" Sandra snapped.

"I wouldn't have to if you'd stop screwing up!"

"I never screwed up!"

"Tell that to the Grandmaster and Kamon!"

"That was one time!"

"Which was one time too many!"

"Children..." Drake sighed. Sandra and Issac were almost nose to nose again.

"What?"

"Can I go now?"

"Fine"

"Geez. Draw!" A dark smile flitted across Drakes face.

"I play the Spell Lightning Vortex, so I toss one card to the graveyard and all your monsters join it!"

As Drake discarded a small thunderhead formed, spearing Kycoo and Enishi with blasts of lightning, causing both to disentrigate. Sandra cursed and Issac winced at the loss of their monsters.

"Next I'll activate Dr. Frankenstien's Experiment!"

"Let me guess" Issac growled. "Another Damien original"

"Bingo. This let's us use monsters from each others graveyards. So now I can remove from play my Giant Germ, Jumien's Marshmallon, Gellenduo and Shining Angel to summon the Sky Scourge Enrise!(2400/1500)"

An angel-like being came down from the sky, wings extended, purple gem in chest glowing.

Jumien's eyes were mad. "Now you'll pay for what you did to the elder" He snarled, barely coherent.

Issac's fists curled. "I told you I didn't kill him, it was Dam--"

"LIES!" Jumien screamed, spittle flying from the corners of his mouth.

Rusty raised his eyebrows. "I can understand this guy being angry at Issac because of the elder and all but why's he so angry?"

"He has every right to" Issac said quietly. "The elder was his grandfather"

"He may as well've been my father" Jumein spat bitterly. "He raised me, taught me everything. Then _you _came along!" He roared, pointing a shaking finger at Issac.

"All of a sudden he was always busy with you, training you, teaching you, spending time with you. He ignored me while you strutted around showing off like some big-shot. That was bad enough, then you went and killed him. When I found out I swore I'd never rest until I'd killed you myself..."

He stared at Issac for a long time, pure hatred swirling in his eyes.

"I tolf you before and I'll say it again" Issac said quietly. "I didn't kill him, it was Damien"

Drake sucked on his teeth. "I'd almost believe you but...you got any proof, man?" He asked almost hopefully.

Issac shook his head.

Drake shrugged. "Sorry then, man. But I will do this for you and spare you the final attack. Enrise! Take out the girl!"

Enrise raised it's hands high above it's head, light gathering in it's palms as Sandra stared in horror.

Enrise leveled it's arms and fired, a blast of pure light. Sandra cried out and fell to one knee, arm raised to protect herself. She waited for the colossal blow to strike...and heard Jumien scream in rage.

Sandra looked up just in time to see the blast from Enrise enter a ruby red tube and exit the other way out of another, straight back at Drake and Jumien. As the blast hit home, Issac helped Sandra to her feet.

"You O.K.?"

"W-why'd you use Magic Cylinder to save me?"

"Hey, I told you, those are my Life Points too"

Issac & Sandra: 700

Drake & Jumien: 1600

Sandra brushed herself down as Issac took up his position.

"Listen, Sandra" He said, eyes fixed on Drake and Jumein who were picking themselves up from the sand, clothes smoking. "I know we never exactly got along"

Sandra snorted.

"O.K. O.K. We hate each others guts" Issac amended. "But still, right now we need each other, so how about we call a truce long enough to take these two down"

Sandra nodded resignedly "Agreed"

She plucked the top card from her deck, "I believe it's my turn, and I'll start by playing The Six Samurai - Irou! (1700/1200)"

A dark warrior rose from the ground. It had dark hair, wore a visor and carried a long katana as tall as it was. It's robe seemed to be made of the shadow's themselves as it roiled in the wind.

"Now that I have a Six Samurai in play I can play the Spell card Band of Brothers, which let's me summon a different Six Samurai to the field! So say hello to Nisashi!(1400/700)

The muscular, green armored warrior rose from the ground as well, wind blowing about him. He took up position beside Irou and both clutched their katanas, ready to strike.

"And since I have two Six Samurai now I can bring out the strongest Warrior in my deck, the Great Shogun Shien!"(2500/2400)"

Shien was seven foot tall, wore a suit of blood red samurai armor, had a massive sword, a purple cape and was surrounded by flames.

Issac pumped his fist as Sandra pointed to Enrise. "Shien! Destroy him!"

Shien raised his huge katana and sliced through Enrise like a hot knife through a chiche.

Issac & Sandra: 700

Drake & Jumien: 1500

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rusty cheered.

"Unfourtnately, I can only attack with one monster on the turn Band of Brothers is played, so I'll end my turn"

"Oh really?" Jumien sneered. "You won't be speaking at all once I'm done. Draw!" A malovelent gleam entered his eye.

"I play Hand Destruction! Now we all discard our entire hands and draw the same number we discarded!"

They all followed instructions, Jumien drawing with more force than nessecary. His eye narrowed as he studied his new hand.

"You've had it!" He snarled. "I remove from play Sky Scourge Enrise, Giant Germ, Dark Jeriod and Big Eye..." Holograms of the various monsters appeared for a moment before vanishing "...to summon the Sky Scourge Noleras!(2400/1500) "

The monster that rose from the ground in a wave of plague dust was, to say the least...hideous. Noleras looked as though someone had taken a burly boxer, cut his legs off, stuck him in the ground to rot and let worms feed on for a while, then dug him up and reanimated him. The legless torso hovered several feet above the ground, rotted black wings seemingly crumpled.

Jumien curled a fist. "Now you die. Noleras! Decimate them!"

Noleras raised his rotted arms, and the wailing wind picked up.

"What's happening?" Rusty asked.

"It's Noleras' effect!" Issac shouted over the storm. "By paying 1000 life points, Jumien can destroy all cards on the field and force us to discard our entire hands"

Issac & Sandra: 700

Drake & Jumien: 500

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Sandra exclaimed. "I activate Fake Trap! Now my face-downs are safe!"

"But I can say the same for your hands or monsters!" Jumien snapped.

A whirlwind of black spores erupted from Noleras' hands. Instantly Sandra's Samurai paled and disentrigated. Issac looked down just in time to see his cards turn gray and do the same.

Eventually the storm died down, revealing Sandra's two facedown cards as the only thing remaining on her and Issac's field.

"Next, thanks to Noleras' further effect, I get to draw a card. And it's just the one I wanted. Chaos Soul! This renders Noleras immune to all monster effects, plus it increases Noleras' attack by 100 for every monster removed from play, and counting yours, thats 10, so..."

(Sky Scourge Noleras: (2400--3400/1500)

Noleras' seemed to grow in size, it's skin, such as it was, streching to the point where it almost broke.

Rusty paled, Jumien raised a hand. "Noleras! Decimate them!"

The dark spores returned and went on the attack.

"Not today" Sandra growled. "Go, Negate Attack!"

A green barrier rose, just in front of the swarm and turned it aside. Jumien screamed in rage and pulled at his hair as the plague was deflected.

Sandra spoke to Issac. "I've done all I can, now it's up to you Slifer"

Issac nodded. "I won't let you down. I Draw!"

_Wha'd do I do? _Issac asked his duel spirit. _Even if I manage to summon you, he's immune to your effect, and there's no way I can pull enough muscle to take down that monster in one turn._

**_Mabye not alone. _**

_But what can Sandra do? She's already...oooohhh. _Issac's eyes strayed ti Sandra's facedown.

_It's worth a shot._

**_A shot's all you have._**

_Don't remind me. _

Issac looked at the card in his hand and exhaled deeply. "Here we go. I play Pot of Greed, which let's me draw two new cards.

He glanced at his new acquirements and a strange look crossed his face. _Chaos Sorcerer, no offence but you're no goo--...wait...how'd _that _card get into my deck?_

**_I don't know but now you have a chance._**

_Got that right, I'll have to figure this out later and use it now._

"First" Issac said out loud. "I activate the Trap card Call of the Haunted, and I'll use it to revive Sandra's Great Shogun Shien.

Shien rose from the earth, flames of vengence flickering about him.

"Pitiful" Jumien scoffed. "What can that do against Noleras?"

"Nothing alone, but once I play the Spell card Polymerization..."

"What?" Rusty and Sandra were equally perplexed if that were possible.

"...I can fuse him with my Chaos Sorcerer, to form the Chaos Shaman Shien!(2500/1900)

As the monster emerged from the fusion portal, it looked as though the Chaos Sorcerer had donned Shien's armor, refitted it, changed it to a silvery black, drew tribal markings on it and himself and gained a staff.

Rusty stared at it in awe. "I never even knew you had a card like that in your deck..."

_Neither did I..._

"And now his power activates, increasing his attack points by 100 times the level of every monster that's been removed from play. And if I've done my math right, that's a grand total of 3700 points!"

A column of energy erupted about the Shaman as his staff began to glow.

(Chaos Shaman Shien: (2500--6200/1900))

Drake folded his arms and nodded appreciatively. "Not bad at all..."

"Ready to finish this, Sandra?"

"You know it, Issac"

"Good, Chaos Shaman..."

"...Atttack!"

"NECRO NOVA!"

The Shaman raised his staff high in the air as the various forms of the banished monsters assembled around him. Beams of cold light emitted from their outstreched hands and gathered on the end of his staff. The collected energy shrunk to a pinpoint for a moment, then erupted in an awesome explosion.

Rusty's coat and hair were blown back and even the Ancient Gear Demon had to brace himself from the sheer force of the blow. Noleras on the other hand was blown away. His skin peeled off, revealing for a moment the form of an entity far more terrifying before it vanished in a blast of light.

Issac & Sandra: 700

Drake & Jumien: 0000

Drake sat on the sand. He leaned back and laughed ruefully. "Very nicely done you two. I told you you had to work together. Hey, Issac!"

Issac looked at him. "Yeah?"

Drake nodded respectfully. "Sorry for not believing you, no hard feelings. Right?"

Issac nodded.

"Good luck, I hope you win" With that Drake tilted his head back. As he did so he changed color. The charcoal grey started at his feet and crept up his body, like water being poured into a glass. Within seconds he had been transformed into ash which blew away.

Jumien on the other hand, did not go so quietly. With a scream of rage and fear he lept to his feet and charged at Sandra. Beofre any of them could react he had his hands around her throat, strangling and shaking her at the same time. She was turning blue as Issac and Rusty charged forward, trying to pull Jumien off. There was no need though, Jumien dissolved into ash and blew away. This time though the ash blew straight into Sandra's face.

She fell to her knees, massaging her throat and coughing hard.

"Are you all right?" Rusty asked.

**_She should be fine._**The Ancient Gear Demon reassured.

_**Jumien didn't have enough time to cause any real damage**_. The Chaos Sorcerer agreed.

Sandra looked up, stull rubbing her throat. "W-who are you?" She asked the two duel spirits, her voice hoarse.

Rusty was shocked. "Y-you can see them?"

Sandra wass too tired to even formulate a biting retort. "Y-yeah, were'd you come from?"

**_Amazing _**The Sorcerer was equal parts amazed and intrigued. **_It seems that ash was charged with particles of Jumien's power. When Sandra inhaled it and it got in her eyes, she absorbed some of it. Not enough to grant her powers like Issac's, but enough to let her see us..._**

Issac looked worried. And evasive. "We'd better get you to the nurse"

"Oh, no you don't" Sandra had recovered some of her energy, and with it her personality. "You're explaining to me what in Ra's name happened here"

Issac looked wary. "I don't think thats'..."

Sandra cut him off. "I just got dragged into a tag duel with the person on this island I hate the most. Both you and those two creeps had extremely rare cards. Not only that but after being beaten, said creeps, vanished into thin air. I was almost killed and now I'm seeing things"

She raised an eyebrow. "Start talking"

Issac looked at the Sorcerer ruefully. "You wanna tell her or should I?"

* * *

Sandra said nothing when the story was finished. Rusty sated up at the stars. They had moved away from the beach and onto a small grassy hill nearby.

Finally Sandra broke the silence. "Makes sense..." She said slowly.

Issac blinked. "What?"

"I said it makes sense. There's no other explination, other that I'm asleep and in some dream. And if this is a dream..." She shrugged.

"So now what?" Rusty asked.

Issac shrugged. "You an' me'll have to be more carful from now on. There's more at stake here now than there was before"

"Just one thing. What do you mean you and Issac?" Sandra sked.

Issac groaned. "Not you too...look it's dangerous enough with two people I--"

Sandra cut him off again. "Don't talk to me about danger." She said "I almost got my soul eaten by evil duel monsters and when that failed I was almost strangled"

She raised an eyebrow in challenge. Issac sighed and raised his hands in surrender.

"Just one thing" Sandra said. "I want first crack a the next creep who comes along"

"Hey no fair!" Rusty sounded petulant. "I wanted--"

Sandra shot him the kind of look that stopped charging Siberian Tigers dead in their tracks.

"Or..I...could...just wait...yeah..."

Without a word Sandra stood and stalked off, back towards her dorms.

Rusty glanced teasingly at Issac. "I think she's in love with you"

"Bite me" Issac growled as he got to his feet. "Let's go get some sleep"

They headed back to the Slifer dorm, Rusty harassing Issac all the way. But Issac hardly heard him.

_Where did that Polymerization card come from, I know for a fact I didn't put it in my deck. Did someone else put it in there? Who? What is going on here? _

* * *

* * *

"_So_?"

"It worked, he won"

"_Excellent_"

"He was suspicious"

"_I expected such_"

"I still don't like it, it was far too risky"

"_Ahh, but a needful risk, if not for your intervention he would've died_"

"I hope you know what you're doing..."

"_Painfully all to well my friend.._."

"I don't know..."

"_Relax, your job is done...for now. Now watch and wait for the next act_"

"Very well"

The cell phone closed with a snap.

* * *

"He won"

"Thank goodness"

"There was something weird about it though"

"Oh?"

"He used a polymerization card, but that was never in his deck before hand"

"Mabye he just added it"

"I don't think so, he seemed just as suprised as I was that he had it"

"Interesting..."

"Should I reveal myself?"

"Not just yet...watch and wait for a while longer, only step in as a last resort. Who knows, we could end up ruining something vital"

"What will you be doing?"

"I'll be calling in backup...an old friend who's had experence with this sort of thing, would you excuse me?"

"I'll stop by tommorow"

"Good-bye"

_Buzz, Buzz_

"_Well, look who it is, wasn't expecting to see you again for a while. How are things?"_

"Interesting...We've had some _incidents_ here..."

"_Aaahhh, you mean...I see. There's no one else that can handle it?"_

"I'm not sure, there've been some...close calls. Don't worry, you won't stand out too much"

"..."

"All right, it won't be too unusual"

"_I'll be there tommorow"_

* * *

**The plot thickens! Two new shadowy factions enter they fray, both invested in victory...or survival. But just who are they? And where did that Polymerization card come from. Hang tight for the next chapter. It'll blow your mind...I hope.**

**I've noticed the reviews lately've stopped almost. Even if you've reviewed before, don't be afraid to do so again, wether it's criticisim, suggestions, questions or just little things you've noticed, don't be afraid t let me know. **


	9. Legend? Or Legendary?

****

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX

**Chapter 9: Legend or Legendary?**

**First off, to Alex Parker: Yes, I realize the idea is a little far-fetched even for an anime (or a fan-fic for that matter) but I felt like trying something different. Plus, I wanted to get to it before anyone else. But don't worry, nobody will transcarnate until near the very end, and maybe not even then. **

**Also, yeah, I've tried hard not to make anyone too powerful. If there's one thing that annoys me about the show, it's that Yugi and Jaden hardly ever lose, and if they do it's by a hair. Everyone in my fic at least will bite the dust at least once if not more. **

**OK, OK, I know I've been gone for a long time...again. but I just bought The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...need I say more? But as this chapters title suggests, prepare for the return of a legend...**

* * *

"I would like to announce that as of today there is a new teacher for the Slifer Red dormitory"

The entire school buzzed in the wake of Chancellor Rhodes announcement.

"We have a teacher _before_?" Rusty asked. Issac shrugged.

"I happen to know this person personally" Rhodes continued "And rest assured, there are few Duelists in the world who are better"

"So who is this new teacher?" An Obelisk asked.

Rhodes was about to say, when her cell phone rang. She turned away to answer it and when she turned back she was smiling.

"Go see for yourself" She said. "His helicopter just arrived"

The students flowed out of the class room with Rusty and Issac caught in the current. When they reached the landing pad Sandra was already there, mixed in with the crowd.

"About time you got here" She snapped over the heads of a pair of Ra's "See who it is"

As she spoke the door opened and a figure stepped out. He was tall, with unruly brown hair. To everyone else, he appeared to be no one special. But only Issac, Rusty and Sandra could see the small army of Duel Spirits assembled around him. Most appeared to be an animal of some kind or another, but three in particular stood out.

The first was a tall winged Fiend with wild hair and bi-chromatic eyes.

The second was a muscular figure dressed in a white costume adorned with a single blue gem on his chest.

The third was a small, brown, puffball.

Jaden Yuki had returned to Duel Academy.

* * *

The Slifer Red lunchroom was buzzing late that evening with students clustered around their new teacher, bombarding him with questions which he took in good humor.

Only Issac and Rusty sat in a corner, deep in discussion.

"I don't know" Rusty said, looking over his shoulder at Jaden. "He doesn't seem anything special..."

"Special?" Issac cried. "He's defeated more Shadow Duelists and faced more threats than even the Elder ever did! He took out almost all the Shadow Riders singlehandedly..."

"The who?"

"...he brought down the Society of Light..."

"Sounds like an especially bad boy band"

"...and he took out Darkness"

Rusty thought for a moment. "O.K. I _kinda _remember that, but I was kinda young"

They both turned to look at Jaden again who was busy laughing at some joke.

"Look at all those spirits around him" Rusty marveled, not for the first time. Issac nodded. "From what I've heard, almost half the monsters in his deck are duel spirits"

Rusty furrowed his brow. "Just how do you know so much about him anyway?"

Issac rolled his eyes "Please. Someone with _that _much of a connection to the Spirit world? Duel Monsters is the Clan's entire life! We've been watching him since day one"

Rusty made a non-committal noise in his throat.

One of the Duel Spirits floating around Jaden's head floated lower. The hairy puffball seemed to whisper into Jaden's ear as he looked up, straight into Rusty's eyes. They held each others gaze for a moment, then Jaden gave him a small smile.

Rusty returned it half-heartedly.

"He knows" He said without looking at Issac. Issac just stared at him. Rusty turned back to him.

"He knows" He repeated.

* * *

Issac banged on the bathroom door. "Rusty, would you hurry up in there?"

The day was a Saturday, meaning everyone had the day off to do as they pleased. Unfortunately for Issac, it seemed all Rusty wanted to do was stay holed up in the restroom.

Rusty walked out, still damp, drying his hair with a towel. "All yours, Prima Donna"

Issac shot him a look before hurrying in. Rusty chuckled, tossed his towel on his bunk and sat with his back against the wall and began to thumb through his deck. He was still making adjustments when Issac came out.

"Hey" Issac asked. "You have any classes with Sandra?"

Rusty shook his head. "Nope. why?"

Issac shrugged. "Just wondering, we don't really know too much about her, do we?"

Rusty shook his head "No, but I think we can trust her"

"Why?"

Rusty Smirked. "She's too pissed off at the Clan to help them"

Issac groaned, then a thought seemed to occur to him. "Hey" He said. "What did you mean last night when you said 'He knew'?"

Rusty bit his cheek. "Just a gut feeling, when he looked at me he looked like..." He shook his head. "I just know he knows, all right?"

Issac sighed. "If you say so. C'mon let's go get some breakfast"

The two boys trooped down to the lunchroom to find it empty, except for Jaden sitting at a table, munching on a piece of toast.

"Hey you two!" He called cheerily as he waved them over. "How do you like Slifer?" He asked as they sat.

"It's a..." Rusty searched for the right word.

"A dump?" Jaden supplied.

Rusty chuckled and nodded sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it" Jaden grinned. "Slifer was like this back in my day too"

He took another bite of toast. "So how long've you been able to see Duel Spirits, Issac?"

Issac shot Rusty a look. "All my life I guess, you?"

"Same here" Jaden said as the brown furball appeared at his shoulder. "Winged Kuriboh was the first one I met though" Kuriboh hooted happily and floated closer to Jaden.

"And speaking of Duel Spirits" Jaden continued, turning to Rusty. "Since when did you get one?" Issac looked from Jaden to Rusty so fast his neck popped.

"You knew Mr. Yuki?" He asked, surprised.

Rusty nodded. "Jaden ran a small card shop near where I lived, he was the one who got me into Duel Monsters, taught me everything I knew. It's thanks to him that I even have most of the rarer cards in my deck"

Jaden shrugged casually. "One of the professors who taught here back in my day ran Ancient Gears himself" He explained. "When Rusty expressed interest in them, I called him up and he helped me get the cards Rusty couldn't get himself."

"What was the professor like?" Rusty asked. Jaden hesitated.

"You know the song 'Dude Looks Like A Lady?"

Rusty shrugged "Yeah"

"Dude looked like a lady"

They all laughed at that.

"One thing's for sure though" Jaden said. "That spirit I saw with you wasn't one of the ones _I _gave you. Where'd it come from?"

Rusty took a deep breath and told about his encounter with Torego as the Ancient Gear Demon appeared at his back. When Rusty finished Jaden glanced up at the Demon and nodded appreciatively.

"Impressive" He said as he stood. "That does it, I've been itching for a duel ever since I got here. So what'd you say?"

Rusty grinned eagerly "I say bring it. I've been wanting to show you what I've learned"

* * *

Jaden and Rusty faced each other outside of the Slifer Red dorms.

"Hope you're ready Jaden" Rusty said. "'Cause you've never faced anything like my Demon before"

Jaden smiled easily "I haven't said this in a while, but get your game on!"

Rusty: 4000 LP

Jaden: 4000 LP

"Good luck, Jaden!" Issac called from the steps.

Rusty shot him a look "Oh, thanks" He said sarcastically.

Jaden chuckled. "Just for that, I'll let you go first"

"Fine by me" Rusty said. "Draw!"

_Time for something a little different._

"I'll summon the Ancient Gear Knight in Attack mode!"(1800/500)

A metal arm holding a long sword reached up out of the ground and stabbed the tip of the sword into the earth. The monster used the sword as a brace as it pulled itself up out of the ground, revealing a robot carrying the aforementioned sword as well as an oversized gear as a shield.

"With that I'll set a card facedown, and end my turn"

Jaden grinned. "Playing it safe, huh?" He drew his card and studied his hand.

**_Be careful, Jaden. I can sense that spirit of his even from inside his deck!_**

_You worry too much._

**_It's my job. YOU don't worry at all, so I have to do it for you._**

Jaden chuckled. "Sorry, Rusty. But this is gonna hurt" He held up three cards.

"I'll play Polymerization to fuse Elemental Hero Sparkman and the Elemental Hero Clayman..."

The two monsters in question glowed for a moment before being sucked into the purple fusion portal.

"..to summon the Elemental Hero Thunder Giant! (2400/1500)"

The titan shot from the portal and crashed to the ground. It rose, sounding a roaring bellow, forks of lightning shooting from it's chest and hands.

"And now his super-power kicks in!Wheneverhe's summoned, I get to destroy a monster whose original attack points are less than his own!"

Rusty groaned, he didn't even have to ask.

"Elemental Hero Thunder giant! Static Shockwave!"

The giant raised his arms above his head and gathered an absurdly giant ball of electricity before hurling it at the Knight who was unceremoniously fried.

"And since that was just his special ability, that mean's he's still got an attack waiting in the wings"

Jaden pumped a fist. "Go to it big guy"

The giant didn't bother with any flashy thunder balls this time, instead he simply fired a stream of electricity from the lightning sphere embedded in his chest.

Issac winced and turned away in anticipation of the blow, but Rusty was unfazed.

"Activate Trap! Stronghold the Moving Fortress!" (0/2000)

A massive robot appeared on the field for a moment, before being struck by the energy stream and exploding.

Jaden batted away sheets of smoke. "What was that?"

"That was a type of card known as a Trap Monster. It's normally played face-down as a Trap card, but when activated it becomes a monster"

"And _that _was what took the hit for you"

Rusty nodded."You haven't changed a bit, Jaden" He said. "Only problem is..." A Smirk spread across his face. "..I have"

"So after my draw, I'll play Monster Reborn, giving my Knight a brief vacation from the scrap heap."

The Knight rose from the ground again, only this time he was covered in stray wires and other assorted souvenirs from his trip of the junkyard.

"And so long as I've got a monster with 'Ancient Gear' in it's name on the field, I can summon one of the same from my hand!" (100/800)

A jumbled bunch of gears and scrap metal disengaged itself from the Knight and clattered onto the field where they swiftly assembled themselves into a small machine.

"But as impressive as both of them are..."

Issac snorted.

"I'm gonna trade them in to summon the Ancient Gear Golem! (3000/3000)"

The armored giant rose from the ground by simply straightning up, as if he had simply been laying under the soil the whole time. As he grew however, he clipped both the Knight and Gear, who both shattered.

Jaden viewed the Golem calmly. "I should've expected this" He said heavily.

Rusty Smirked evily. "Got that right"

The Golem hefted a giant fist and brought it crashing down on the giant who vanished into a storm of electricity.

Rusty: 4000

Jaden: 3400

Rusty pumped a fist. "Yeah! First blood!"

Jaden looked up from underneath his hair. "Yeah, but not the last. My Draw! And now I'll activate the spell card Fake Hero! So now I get to Summon an Elemental Hero from my hand, but he's gone at the end of the turn"

As Jaden spoke a column of fire rose from the ground, dying down to reveal the figure of Burstinatrix. (1200/800)

"And now that I've got one of my Heros on the field, I can play Hero's bond to bring out another!"

This time there was a gust of wind as birdman Avian swooped down onto the field. (1000/1000)

"So now I can tribute them both to summon, the Elemental Hero Neos! (2500/2000)"

Both Avian and Burstinatrix dissolved into beams of light which shot up into the sky. As they watched, a rip in the sky appeared, and the light vanished into the stars. As they did so, one of the stars grew larger until Neos himself came hurtling in, landing with a crash onto the field.

Rusty grimaced. Not. Good. "Impressive" He commented. "But he still won't be enough to take down my Golem"

**_Now why do I feel like I've heard that somewhere before?_**

_Aw, shut up._

"He will with this!" Jaden said. "I'm playing Neos Force, which gives him an attack boost of 800 points!"

A silver sphere of energy materialized around Neos' fist.

Elemental Hero Neos (3300/2000)

"Neos! Take 'em out! Cosmic Crush!"

With a grunt Neos leapt into the air, fist poised to strike at the golem.

"Fat chance. Rusty scoffed. "Activate Mystical Space Typhoon!"

A blue tornado erupted from behind the Golem and struck Neos head-on.

It vanished as suddenly as it appeared. Leaving Neos unscathed.

"What was that all about?" Issac asked. "Neos didn't get a scratch"

"Can't say the same for his attack boost" Rusty said smugly.

Issac looked again, and sure enough, the silver aura had vanished from Neos' hand.

Rusty Smirked evily again. "Ancient Gear Golem, Mechanized Meele!"

The Golem crossed a hand over and slapped Neos back-handed as if he was no more than an annoying fly.

Neos gave a surprised grunt before exploding into nothing.

Rusty: 4000

Jaden: 2900

Jaden groaned. "Oh, come on! Not Neos!"

Rusty laughed as he Set a card face-down. "You're slipping, old man"

Jaden drew. "I wouldn't count on it" He said as he considered his hand. "I'll start off by playing Fusion Recovery! Now I get back one Fusion Material monster and a Polymerization card!"

He held up the recycled cards saying. "Now I'll activate my Polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Bladedge to to create..."

A flash of golden light shot from the portal.

"The Elemental heroH Plasma Vice! (2600/2300)"

Plasma was looked as though Sparkman had bulked up and donned a set of golden armor, electricity flashing off its surface.

"And he's got a pretty sweet special ability too!" Jaden informed Rusty. "By discarding one card, any one of my opponents monsters in Attack Position get's crushed!"

Plasma gathered a sphere of energy as Thunder Giant had, and fired, taking the Golem's head clean off. The body wobbled for a moment before collapsing.

Rusty winced as the last of the metal components of the Golem hit the ground. He sucked in his breath even harder as Plasma Vice struck, this time with a devastating upper-cut.

Rusty: 1400

Jaden: 2900

Rusty was smiling as he got back up.

"What're you grinning about?" Issac asked. "He just wiped out over half your Life Points!"

"Exactly" Rusty said as his facedown activated. "He also set off my Damage Condenser Trap! So now I get to summon any monster with attack points equal to or less than the Damage I took! So now I get to summon the Ancient Gear Beast! (2000/2000)"

A large mechanical dog burst from the ground, shaking it's hindquarters to pull them free of the earth.

Jaden raised and eyebrow as he set two cards. "Not bad, but Plasma Vice'll still fry him"

"Not with this he won't!" Rusty held up a card after drawing. "It's called Limiter Removal, and for the duration of this turn, all my Machines have their attack points doubled!"

Ancient Gear Beast: (4000/2000)

Electricity crackled cross the Beast's metal armor and his eyes pulsed blood red. He lifted his head and let loose an earth shaking roar.

Rusty Smirked. "Yep, that's man's best friend, always ready to play. But he doesn't like to play fetch. He prefers Seek and Destroy!"

The mechanical animal bent it's legs and sprang across the entire field, it's rusted claws tearing right through Plasma Vice like tissue paper. Jaden ducked as a piece of shrapnel from the giant's armor went whizzing past.

Rusty: 1400

Jaden: 1000

"Nice going, Rusty" Jaden commented. "But you've forgot one thing, any monster targeted by Limiter Removal get's destroyed at the end of the turn, and you'll be completely defenceless"

Rusty's Smirk didn't waver for a moment. "Is that so?" He asked. "Well before our little playmate goes bye-bye, he's got one last game he wants to play"

Rusty slid a card into a slot on his disk as he spoke. "This is a little number called Ancient Gear Explosive! And it let's me destroy one Ancient Gear on the field, and in return you take a hit equal to half it's original attack points!"

"What?!"

The Ancient Gear Beast bent it's legs and sprang again, claws outstreched at Jaden this time. Jaden instinctively raised his arms to protect himself. Just before the claws reached him however, the machine exploded, pummeling Jaden hard.

Rusty pumped a fist as Jaden's life points dropped. "Yeah! Take that, Jaden! I finally beat you!"

"Is that so?" Jaden's voice sounded through the smoke.

Rusty looked confused for a moment, before a horrified look entered his eyes.

"Don't tell me.." He groaned.

"Yep" The smoke thinned, revealing Jaden still standing tall, his Emergency Provisions card next to him.

Issac frowned. "I don't get it"

**_Emergency Provisions restores 1000 Life Points for every Spell or Trap sent to the graveyard by it's effect._**

Issac nodded. _Useful_

**_Quite so._**

Rusty: 1400

Jaden: 1000

**_Fool! I told you not to let your guard down._**

Jaden narrowed his eyes. _Thing is, he's let his down too, and it's my turn_

Issac's eyes were fixed on the two duelists before him. One, his idol, the other, his best friend. This was what dueling was all about...

_Boy._ He thought. _That was quite a move Rusty made._

**_Indeed, it only goes to show just how much Rusty has improved. It's no small wonder he defeated you._**

Issac ignored that last comment and returned to the duel.

"I'll set another card facedown and end my turn" Rusty said.

_Talk about a risk, I've left myself wide open. One good hit could finish me! But if I know Jaden I've got just the thing to help me survive._

"My draw!" Jaden wasted no time pondering his choices. "I summon Neo-Spacian Air Hummingbird! (800/600)

There was a flash of green light and a red jump-suited bird man fluttered down to Jaden's field.

**_Looks like I got here just in time._**

_You know it. Let's do this!_

"Now I activate Air Hummingbird's special ability, and I'll gain 500 life points for every card in your hand. Honey Suck!"

The bird-man spread his wings and took flight.

Rusty wagged a finger. "Ah, Ah, Ah. I knew you'd try something like that, so I took some precautions. I activate my Trap card, Divine Wrath! All I need to do is discard one card and your bird is toast!"

A bolt of lightning forked from the sky and fried the Air Hummingbird in mid-air, leaving only a few lonely feathers to float down to the ground.

**_He's better than I thought._**

_You sound surprised, forgetting who taught him? In any case, we're in big trouble. Rusty just turned the entire table on us. _

Jaden looked at his hand.

_Fourtnately, for us, that will prove to be his undoing._

"I'll throw down two face downs and call it a turn. Your shot, Rusty."

"And I'll take it" Rusty said, drawing_. _

_Time to show Jaden the true extent of my power._

**_Do you have to sound so dramatic?_**

_Why not? It's more fun that way._

_**If you say so**_...

"Time for you to go mano-a-mano with power it self, Jaden. I'll remove from play my Golem and Beast, to Summon the Ancient Gear Demon!" (4600/500)

The ghostly apparitions of the two monsters vanished to be replaced by the Demon, rising from what seemed to be Hell itself.

_Now he's in trouble. _Rusty thought

_Now he's in trouble. _Jaden thought.

"Give'em a taste of your steel!" Rusty shouted. "Mechanical Hellfire!"

A needle of white hot fire lanced out from the palm of the demon, angling straight for Jaden.

"I don't think so!" Jaden cried, slashing the air with one hand. "Activate facedowns!" Both brown backed cards rose, revealing their identities.

"The first is called Flute of Summoning Kuriboh" Jaden explained. "And this let's me summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck straight away!" (300/200)

The brown puffball from earlier, floated from the card, hooting softly.

"The second" Jaden continued sliding a pair of cards into his grave. "Is called Transcendent Wings, and by discarding two cards, I can evolve Winged Kuriboh into Winged Kuriboh LV 10!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Rusty contradicted. "I'll activate a facedown myself! Short Circut! Thanks to this, by cutting my Demon's attack points in half your spell card is negated!"

Electricity crackled across the Demon's bare gears and shot out, outracing the fire stream and striking Transcendent Wings. The card sparked for a moment, then exploded.

"Now the Demon's attack points drop.." Rusty said as a sickly green pallor surrounded the monster.

(Ancient Gear Demon: (2300/500))

"...But he's still got plenty to spare"

The needle of flame finally found it's target. Winged Kuriboh barely had time for a semi-indignant, semi-startled squawk before it was fried.

Jaden half-turned away from the force of the blow.

"Fortunately, thanks to Winged Kuriboh's special ability, I don't take a point of damage"

Rusty folded his arms. "Fine by me, I'll just have to fry you next turn"

_He's got a point. I need some serious firepower now, or else I'm toast!_

**_Do you require my assistance?_**

_It sure couldn't hurt!_

"My Turn!" Jaden barked, drawing. "And I'll start by playing the spell card O - Oversoul! This lets me revive an Elemental Hero from my graveyard. So, back for an encore performance is Neos!"

Neos shot from the ground, landing straight across from the Demon, both eyeing each other warily.

"Nice try..." Rusty said cautiously. "...But..."

"But he still can't beat your Demon?" Jaden laughed. "Mabye not alone, but I'm summoning the Neo-Spacian Grand Mole!" (900/300)

The earth quivered slightly and a brown mole with a split drill for a pair of shoulder pauldrons burrowed up from the ground.

Rusty swallowed. _Oh, boy._

Issac's eyes widened. _Is this...?_

"Neos? Grand Mole?" Both monsters nodded as Jaden spoke their names. He shoved a fist into the air. "Contact Fusion!"

A rip appeared in the sky again and Neos and Grand Mole shot into the stars.

"Grand Neos! Come on down! (2500/2000)"

Neos emerged from the stars and returned to Jaden's field with a crash. Neos had grown several feet, and had donned a set of dusky brown armor as well as gained an oversized drill.

"First things first" Jaden said. "Can't do a thing with Demon of yours on the field, so let's get him off. Grand Neos, the honor is yours"

Grand Neos hefted the drill up and stabbed the tip into the ground, sending a rift cracking throught the ground. Just before it struck the Ancient Gear Demon however, he gave a shout, transformed into a stream of fire and returned to Rusty's hand.

Issac opened his mouth to ask but Rusty beat him to it.

"Grand Neos' ability returns one monster on the field to it's owners hand" He explained.

Jaden nodded in satisfaction. "And now that I've got a clear shot, Neos?" The monster nodded. "Time for a spot of payback"

Grand Neos drew the drill back and charged forward, stabbing Rusty with the very tip of the drill.

Rusty cried out as the drill drew the last of his Life Points from him, before collapsing to the ground.

"That's game!"

Rusty: 0000

Jaden: 1000

Issac got up and hurried over to Rusty as Jaden turned off his disk and did the same.

"Now _that _was a duel!" Issac exclaimed, hauling Rusty to his feet.

Jaden nodded. "You did good! You've definitely gotten a lot better since the last time we dueled"

Rusty still seemed depressed "I still couldn't beat you..."

Jaden laughed. "Don't worry about it, you came a lot closer to beating me than most people ever did"

Rusty brightened a little at that. "I guess that's true" He grinned at Issac. "Those Clan guys better watch out, cause I'm ready for 'em now"

Issac's eyes widened in panic as did Rusty's as he realized what he'd said.

Jaden raised an eye brow. "Clan guys? What--?"

He was interrupted by a shout. "Hey, Issac! Rusty! Some of the guys're going down to the swimming hole! You coming?"

Both nodded energetically and raced off before Jaden could react.

He narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs. _Somethings up._

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away...

* * *

Damien strode through the halls of the clan's home.

On the outside, the place looked like a slum area fulled with abandoned and crumbling apartment buildings. And it was, the true home for the clan was a series of tunnels located in an expanse underneath the ground. While the original tunnel's themselves were quite plentiful, the clan had added on over the years, until a veritable maze of caverns existed.

Damien was tall, with blond hair and cool grey eyes. His steps were long, swift and sure.

As he walked, he caught glimpses of his fellow clan members scurrying about. Gathering up supplies and other items in case the traitor Issac decided to reveal their existence and they had to flee. Damien smiled cruelly inside. Fools. Thy had no clue. It was insultingly easy to convince the masses that Issac was the one who had slain the Elder. All they had ever been concerned about was survival. He had bigger things in mind.

Damien's hand rested on the hilt of the Black Luster Soldiers' sword which was strapped to his hip. Even without his incredible charisma it no one would dare to question his version of events, not with the power that he wielded.

He finally reached the area he half sarcastically called his "office". It was a massive cube of poured concrete the size, lengthand height of a football field. There was not a single decoration or splash of color in the gargantuan room. Only a simple business desk and rolling chair, with no amenities sat in the exact middle of the room.

It took Damien several minutes to reach his desk,enjoying the feeling of being dwarfed by the massive room. He sat down and pulled out several large books and sheafs of paper and got to work.

Several hours later, he was still pouring over the books, comparing them to what was written on the papers, making corrections and taking notes. With the size of the room, the sound of footsteps reached him long before the sight of the owner appeared. Damien knew who it was and didn't look up until the person stood right in front of his desk.

He finished reading the sentence he was on, put his pencil down and looked up.

"Ah, the lovely Ms. Danor" He said, the words flowing from his lips like water, a warm smile on his face. "What can I do for you? Any report on our little renegade?"

Danor was pretty, in a cold sort of way. Her pale face was totally expressionless, and her pale blond hair was pulled out in a short ponytail. She clutched a sheef of papers in one arm of her own.

"Not to good, Mr. Damien" She said in her business-like tone, her only tone."Our reports indicate that Jaden Yuki is now on the island. I believe it is safe to assume he has allied himself with the traitor Issac" She handed a piece of paper to Damien who studied it in silence for several moments.

"I'm assuming there is no-one in the Clan who is confident enough to take on the great Jaden Yuki, is there?"

Danor shook her head. "Noone apart from you or me Mr. Damien. You are needed here. However, I--"

"--are needed her as well" Damien cut off. He smiled up at Danor. "If not for you, my dear, I would be unable to function properly and without me, the clan. So, ipso facto, _you _are the most important person in the Clan right now"

"You are far too kind, sir" Danor said emotionless. "But if neither you nor I can go than who will?"

Daminen shrugged. "Earlton might be willing"

Danor stared in shock for a moment. "Surely you must be joking, sir"

"Why?"

"Well" Danor spluttered "Because Earlton is--"

"--Insane?" Damien chuckled warmly. "He may be that, but he is still undoubtedly one of the best duelists in the Clan"

"With all due respect how would you know that, sir? Who could be foolish enough to give _him _a deck?"

"I was" Damien said, still smiling at the look at the look on Danor's face. "He very nearly beat me too"

Danor started to protest again but Damien held up a hand.

"I've made my decision, Ms. Danor. Earlton is currently our best hope of defeating the traitor Issac"

Danor opened her mouth to protest once again, but she thought better of it and closed it, deciding to simply nod instead.

Damien's eye's narrowed and his voice hardened. "Get me the Forbidden One"

* * *

**Dun, Dun Dahhhhhh. (I say that way to much, don't I?) This is my longest chapter yet, and I almost put two Duels in, but that'll have to wait to next chapter. Anyone else besides me glad to see Jaden back? The only flaw with setting GX at a high school was that it could'nt last longer than four seasons. I thought I'd be interesting to see what happened to the cast afterwards (Sorry, but not everyone will be back for an encore) Once again, sorry for the long wait (it's starting to turn into my trademark) but I got kinda bogged down on the duel. XD Hope you liked it! It's probably one of my favorites yet. If you check out my profile, I'll have a poll up soon where you can vote for your favorite duels too!. **

**So now for the usual, please-review-any-suggestion-please-criticize message before I sign off. Oh. It's already done? Man, I'm good! Till then.**

**GAME ON!**


	10. The Forbidden One

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 10: The Forbidden One**

**Told you I'd be trying to get these up faster. I'm so proud of myself. XD A lot of you expressed the fact that you liked that Jaden was back. Sorry to disappoint you, but he won't be here for too long. X( I know, I know, but he just doesn't fit into the story. Speaking of which...**

* * *

Rusty lay back, eyes closed in the shallows of the swimming hole. Around him other students splashed and played. Issac swam a few more laps back and forth before swimming over.

"You were right" He said. "He knows"

Rusty grimaced. "Yeah, sorry about that, it slipped out"

Issac shook his head. "I've got a feeling he knew anyway..."

Rusty opened one eye. "So what do we do now?"

Issac sighed, thinking. "Jaden would be a powerful ally..." He mused. "But I don't feel comfortable getting anyone else involved. There's an old saying that 'three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead'"

"And we've got three right now" Rusty observed.

"Quite. Besides," Issac's eyes flashed. "This is _our _fight. All of us are threatened by the clan in one way or another"

"So how do we keep him out of it?"

"It won't be easy. I'm still working on it" Issac turned to Rusty. "You said, Jaden ran a card shop near where you lived?"

Rusty nodded. "He was the one who got me into Duel Monsters. When I was a kid, he stopped a kid in the park from bullying me by dueling him"

Rusty got a far-away look in his eye. "It was the first real duel I'd ever seen, but I could still tell Jaden was something else. Anyway, I jumped at the opportunity to learn Duel Monsters from him. As soon as I got my first starter deck we were dueling every day" Rusty laughed gently. "All those times and I never beat him once"

"Not once?"

"Nope, today was the closest I've ever gotten, just a thousand more life points..." He murmured. "...mabye if I'd played Short Circuit to protect my Golem..."

Issac shook his head. "I doubt it"

"Really?"

"Yeah, see..."

And with that, the talk drifted off to other topics...

* * *

Issac spotted Sandra using one of the vending machines the next day.

"Hey!" He called, jogging over.

Sandra turned, glaring when she saw who it was. "Ten seconds or less"

"Jaden's one of the good guys, but he's to stay out of this, don't tell him anything"

"Oh, thanks a lot! You think I go around spilling my guts to everyone and their spirit?"

"Jaden already knows" Issac growled.

"Was it Rusty?"

Issac bristled. "_No_body told him, but he still knows somehow. If he asks you, play dumb. _That _shouldn't be to hard, especially for you" Without waiting for a reply Issac spun on his heel and hurried off, just in time to spot Jaden heading towards him. Jaden's eyes brightened when he saw Issac and he quickened his step.

_Nuts._

"Hey, Issac!"

Issac turned to see Sara, ever-present book in hand.

"Hey, Sara. How's the database coming?"

"Not too good" Sara looked a little down. "I've been running into a few snags"

"That stinks" Issac's mind was still on Jaden. "I know! Why don't you talk to Jaden?"

Sara frowned. "You mean that new teacher?"

"Yeah! He's got a whole bunch of one-of-a-kind cards in his deck. I'm sure he'd be glad to help!"

Sara perked up. "Really?"

"Sure! C'mon I'll introduce you"

Issac walked over to Jaden, Sara in tow. Jaden had slowed when Sara approached and was now waiting patiently.

"Jaden" Issac greeted. "This is Sara, she's compiling a Duel Monsters database. I told her about your rare cards and I was wondering if you'd be able to help her?"

Jaden smiled easily at Sara who blushed shyly. "No problem, I'm a little tied up at the moment, but if you'd like to swing by after class tomm--"

Jaden was cut off by a squeal from the PA system. When it died down an eerie sing-song voice spoke.

"To the one I'm looking for, you know where to find me!" The PA squealed again before turning off with a sharp click.

Sara looked pale.

"What was that?" Jaden asked. He turned, but Issac was gone.

* * *

Late that night Rusty and Issac crept out of their room, down the stairs and out of the Slifer Red dormitory.

"You sure Jaden's asleep?" Rusty whispered.

"He was snoring louder than you" Issac hissed. "Trust me on that"

"So how do we find this guy? He interrupted my karaoke routine"

"Firstly: We have to meet up with Sandra first. And Secondly: We have a karaoke machine?"

Rusty Smirked. "No"

Issac groaned quietly. "Sounds like he did everyone a favor then"

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing"

A few minutes later they found Sandra hidden in the trees halfway between the Academy and Slifer Dorms.

"This'd better not take too long" She said, arms folded. "I have a quiz tomorrow and if I flunk it because I'm tired, there'll be hell to pay"

"Well, that's entirely up to you isnt it?" Rusty asked icily. ""After all, this is your turn"

"So how do we find this guy?" Sandra asked. "He said you'd know"

Issac nodded as the Chaos Sorcerer and Ancient Gear Demon phased into view.

"One of the most basic techniques a member of the Clan of the Ka has at it's disposal is the ability to sense other Duel Spirits"

"Really?" Rusty looked intrigued.

The Chaos Sorcerer nodded. **_Simply the presence of a Duel Spirit send out waves, like ripples in a pond._**

"So it's a simple matter for me to reach out with my abilities and sense where this guy is"

"Well? Get on with it Dr. Strange" Sandra said impatiently.

Issac didn't reply to that, choosing instead to close his eyes, becoming very still as he did so.

Suddenly, he cried out and doubled over as if he'd been struck in the stomach by a two-by-four. He stumbled back against one of the trees.

Rusty and Sandra cried out in suprise as the Chaos Sorcerer did the same in pain.

"Issac!" Rusty shook him by his shoulders. "Are you OK?"

Issac cracked one eye open.

The Chaos Sorcerer was shouting in pain, his form wavering and flickering.

"What was that?" Sandra breathed.

"I...don't know" Issac had to force the words out of his mouth.

The Ancient Gear Demon stared at the Chaos Sorcerer helplessly. **_Just his aura _**He said in horrified fascination. **_Just his aura was enough to do this to them._**

"It's not just that" Issac sat up, holding his head. "I've already broken contact. Just the _feedback _from his aura is enough to incapacitate us"

"What was it?" Rusty persisted.

"I don't know" Issac repeated. "But whatever it is..." He looked up into their faces. "It's **god **level"

Rusty and Sandra could only stare for several seconds.

"We should get him to the Nurse" Rusty said.

"No...no" Issac said, struggling to his feet, still holding his head. "I'll be alright"

**_Are you sure? _**The demon asked.

Issac nodded. "It's just the feedback, it'll go away in a few seconds"

Rusty looked at Sandra. "Are you _sure _you're ready for this?" He asked cautiously.

Sandra had regained her composure by now, and she met Rusty's gaze levelly.

"I don't have a choice" She said.

By now the Chaos Sorcerer had recovered as well, though he did seem paler and more translucent than usual.

Sandra turned to him. "Which way?"

The Sorcerer pointed in a direction and they set off in silence.

After walking for several minutes they reached a clearing.

There was no mistaking who the figure who stood in the middle of the clearing was.

"Earlton" Issac breathed.

Earlton looked like an overgrown puppet whose strings had been cut, leaving only the main strand to keep him upright. His head lolled to one side, colorless hair matted across his face. His arms hung limply at his side, looking as though the rusted duel disk he wore would pull them off at any moment. His feet seemed to be frozen in mid-buckle as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

"So you found me I see" Earlton said in his eerie sing-song voice. "And now you die"

He didn't even bother lifting the arm holding the duel disk. Instead he swung one arm across before letting it swing back, like a pendulum.

Sandra stepped forward and was about to follow suit when a voice cut through the night.

"Sandra! Get away from him!"

Jaden Yuki came sprinting through the trees. There was a fire burning in his eyes, fiend, hero and puffball at his back and a disk on his arm.

Issac gaped at him. "I thought we left you asleep back at the dorms."

"Yeah, well, you'd be surprised at how good a mimic a mole spirit can be" Jaden said, never taking his eye's off the Clan member. As he spoke a brown furry creature materialized on his shoulder, chattering aggressively at Earlton.

Earlton seemed unfazed. "Well, well, if it is'nt the famous Jaden Yuki. I'd tell you what an honor this is..." His eyes flashed. "...if it was" He laughed then, and if there was any doubt before, it vanished now. Earlton was well and truly insane.

"You won't be threatening anyone" Jaden snarled, raising his disk. "Get your game--"

"No!" Sandra went so far as to shove Jaden out of the way. She turned to Earlton. "This is my duel"

As she spoke, the tendrils of darkness had spread out from behind Earlton was was already surrounding them.

Jaden had recovered by this time. "No!" He shouted, moving forward, but it was too late. The liquid smoke had already encircled Sandra and Earlton.

Jaden reached out, but as his fingers brushed the borders marked by the silent black flames he was knocked back with a cry. The barrier made a hollow donging sound where he had touched it.

"By the way, you might not want to try touching that black thingy" Rusty quipped straight-faced. "Just a thought"

"This is no time for your jokes, Rusty" Issac snapped.

Jaden scrambled back to his feet and looked as though we was about to try again.

"Leave it" Issac said flatly. "There's nothing more we can do for her, except support her"

Sandra had barely glanced back when Jaden was knocked down. If she was to survive this, she couldn't let anything distract her. Even the thought of a mistake could get her killed. She thumbed the switch on her Duel Disk.

"DUEL!"

Sandra: 4000

Earlton: 4000

As she finished drawing her final starting card Sandra looked up.

Earlton was reversing one of the cards in his hand so that the cards graphic was facing outwards for all to see. When he finished his arm fell flat against his side again.

Sandra frowned. "What was that for?"

Then she noticed what the card was.

"Issac?" She asked in a small voice.

Rusty had gone pale and even Jaden swallowed.

Issac frowned. "What's going on?" Then he too, recognized the card in Earlton's hand.

The cards graphic was that of a muscular, golden, chained left arm.

The Left Arm Of The Forbidden One.

Exodia.

Sandra whirled on Issac. "Why didn't you tell me?" She snarled, anger and fear combined in her eyes.

Issac raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Hey, I didn't even know he could duel until now. I mean look at him!" He pointed to the misshapen man-doll.

"Earlton is insane in every sense of the word. If the clan let him near a card there's a very good chance he could develop a bond with it, can you imagine what would happen if he got a spirit?"

Sandra grunted in assention and turned back

Earlton smiled evilly "I'll take the first move"

Earlton plucked a card from his hand and swung his arm across just enough to insert the card into it's appropriate slot.

"I'll open The Dark Door!"

A rectangle of shadow opened behind Earlton's misshapen form. A brief blast of light emitted from the door, eclipsing Earlton for a second before the door abated the flow, instead simply sending forth questing tendrils of light.

"But here's the thing" Earlton giggled as the door moved from behind him to come to rest in the middle of the field. "This door is so narrow that only one monster can pass through it at a time, and that restricts the number of attacks we're allowed as well"

Issac's fist curled. "Figures, if he's trying to assemble Exodia, he's going to want to be able to hold Sandra off as long as possible, what better way than to only allow her one attack per turn? Coward"

Earlton heard that. "Oho! Coward am I?" He asked swinging to face Issac, limbs trailing after him. "Were you coward when you fled after slaying the Elder?"

Issac growled. "I'm through trying to defend myself"

Earlton closed one eye. "Remember this, boy, there is a world of difference between cowardice and stupidity.

With that he returned his baleful attention back to Sandra.

"I'll also, set one monster face-down" He said, causing a horizontal reverse card to appear.

"And, I'll finish my turn by playing my greatest weapon! Different Dimension Capsule!"

A massive, upright, blue sarcophagus rose from the ground next to him.

Jaden gritted his teeth. "Oh, no."

"I take it you know of this card?" Earlton asked teasingly. "If that's so, then why don't you fill in your precious students while I go to work?"

Sandra turned to Jaden. "Well?"

Jaden ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"The Different Dimension Capsule card let's Earlton take any card from anywhere in his deck and put it inside. Then, after two turns the card comes back to his hand"

Rusty looked worried. "Any card?"

"Any card"

As Jaden spoke, Earlton fanned his deck, selected a card and without moving tossed it carelessly into the capsule.

The sarcophagus closed as soon as the card was inside and glowed for a brief moment. When it stopped a clock graced the lid and a neon number two floated above it.

_He's not one for subtlety is he? _Jaden thought looking at the digit.

Sandra wasted no time. "Draw!" She barked.

_Issac said that Earlton was trying to build a wall, but for now he's only got the foundations. _Sandra glanced at the reverse monster. _And the fastest way to stop anything, is before it starts. But to break down walls, you need some strength, and I've got just the card!"_

"I summon The Six Samurai - Zanji! (1800/1300)"

The golden armored warrior rose onto Sandra's field. It quickly fell into an attack stance, pike pointed at Earlton.

"Zanji! Attack!"

Zanji charged forward. As it passed through the Dark Door, a thin film of dark goo oozed from the frame, sealing the portal off. Zanji ignored this, choosing instead to leap into the air, pike ready to tear the face-down card in half. Just before it connected however, it flipped face-up and a cherry red sphere leaped into the air to meet Zanji. Once it reached the Samurai the cherry red sphere latched on with a quartet of razor sharp claws.

"What was that?" Sandra demanded.

"That was my little friend Blast Sphere (1400/1400)" Earlton explained, sighing heavily as he did so. "The poor little guy has a problem, you see. He's so easily startled. And when your big mean samurai attacked him, he jumped. Right onto your monsters shoulders"

Zanji had returned to Sandra, Blast Sphere still latched on.

"The thing is," Earlton continued. "During your next standby phase, when he finally calms down, he'll be so mad at himself for jumping, that he'll explode! Taking your Zanji with him"

Sandra kicked herself mentally. That was exactly the sort of mistake that would cost her the duel, not to mention her life...

"I'll end my turn" She said sullenly.

"Hey! Chin up!"

Sandra turned.

Issac folded his arms. "There's a bright side to this, you know. If he really is running a Stall deck, that means you won't have to worry about any attacks!"

_H-he's supporting ME? _Sandra thought, but out loud she sneered. "Instead I'll have to worry about the only unstoppable monster in Duel Monsters ending this duel without me being able to do a thing"

Rusty shrugged. "Eh, you can't have it all"

Sandra rolled her eyes and returned to the duel.

"Can't have it all, eh?" Earlton asked. "Unlike you, I _can_. My draw!"

One card fluttered out of his hand. Earlton swing the arm holding the Duel Disk over and the card landed squarely in the corresponding slot.

"I'll summon the Dark Mimic LV1! (100/1000)"

A small powder-blue jewelry box appeared on the field. If not for the single, demonic eye and stubby tentacles, the monster would've looked completely harmless.

"And now that he's summoned, I get to draw and additional card"

Earlton plucked a card from his disk. But instead of raising it up to eye level. He bent over at the waist to look at it on it's own level. When he straightened up, he was smiling.

"Bad news for you" He leered. "I just drew another piece of the puzzle"

He reversed the card to reveal the similarly leering head and torso of Exodia himself.

"And still, time marches on" He said as the number above the sarcophagus changed into a one, and the clock on the lid spun.

"And, just to hurry things along, I'll play _another _Different Dimension Capsule!"

A second sarcophagus rose. Earlton stored a card inside and a red two graced the air above it.

"I'll end my turn with that"

_Another one?! I've gotta hurry!_ "My draw!" Sandra barked, yanking the top card from her deck.

"And Zanji dies!" Earlton lifted an arm, pointing at the Samurai. The action made him lean backwards, making it look as though he were having a belly laugh. No one noticed this however. All their eyes we're on the golden Samurai.

The scarlet sphere on his back had started to vibrate and smoke. Before anyone could comment, however, the Blast Sphere exploded, destroying Zanji and hammering into Sandra with a devastating force.

"Oopsies" Earlton covered his mouth with a hand. "Silly me, I forgot to mention, the owner of the monster destroyed by Blast Sphere takes damage equal to the attack of the destroyed monster!"

"Sandra!" Issac called, straining to see through the smoke.

_This is _exactly _why I wanted to be the one to Duel. _Jaden thought angrily. _That blast may have caused serious damage to Sandra._

A voice sounded, muffled from the smoke.

"Is that the best you've got?" Sandra sneered, arms folded. Except for a slight singing of her jacket, she was competely unharmed.

Sandra: 2200

Earlton: 4000, 2 Pieces of Exodia.

Earlton simply laughed. "Of course not, you know that" He said, waving his hand about mockingly. "Of course, you'll learn just how much soon enough"

"Enough talk" Sandra growled. "I summon The Six Samurai - Yariza! (1000/500)

Yariza was a little shorter than his brothers, he wore a suit of steel grey armor and clutched a long chain, the end of which was attached to a short blade.

_I learned my lesson from last turn. _Sandra thought ruefully. _That Mimic may look harmless, but knowing Earlton, it's got some trick about it. So I'm going to ignore his monster and go straight for him! But to do that, I'll need a little help._

"Now that there's a 'Six Samurai' on the field, I can Special Summon The Grandmaster Of The Six Samurai for free! (2100/800)"

The aged veteran took up his place beside his student, drawing his longsword and planting it in the ground at his feet.

"Summon all the warriors you like" Earlton mocked. "You can only fit one through the Dark Door!"

"One's all I need" Sandra replied. "See, now that I've got another monster with 'six samurai' in it's name on the field, Yariza can attack you directly!"

Yariza gave his chain a quick twirl, it began to pick up speed until it became a blur. Then, he let fly. The blade soared through the Dark Door, triggering it's sealing. The blade continued on, right through Earlton. He squealed and fell to his knees.

Sandra: 2200

Earlton: 3000, 2 Peices of Exodia.

"Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rusty cheered.

Jaden frowned. _A good move to be sure, but Earlton's not done yet..._

Earlton half-lifted his head. "You'll pay for that, wench" He hissed as he struggled to his feet.

"Try and make me" Sandra challenged.

"Oh, I will. But first I should thank you.

_Uh, Oh. _"What for?"

"For not destroying my Mimic! Because now I can evolve him into the Dark Mimic LV3! (1000/1000)

The tiny box, shimmered, then expanded and grew. The eye vanished, it's color changed from power blue to blood red and it gained a lattice of silver lacework across it's frame. The tentacles shrank and vanished into the lid as it closed.

"And now...!" The clock on the sarcophagus spun again as the timer counted down and the coffin opened. Earlton reached inside and claimed the card, the Left Leg, this time.

"One step closer" He giggled. "And now, my second sarcophagus takes a step of it's own!" The first sarcophagus sank back into the ground, as the second moved to take it's place, the two vanishing and being replaced by a one instead.

"So that's _four _Exodia pieces so far" Earlton said, wiggling his hand, tauntingly. "And my third Different Dimension Capsule!" Yet another sarcophagus rose, to contain a card.

"C'mon!" Issac shouted in frustration. "This ain't fair!"

_He's right, it's not _Jaden thought. _This deck of his seems almost invincible! But every deck, every card has a weakness, I've got to **think**._

Sandra started to sweat. _This is bad, I've got to take out that Mimic before it evolves even further!_

"My Draw!" She cried, but this time there was a touch of panic in her voice.

"I Summon The Six Samurai - Irou! (1700/1200)"

A tall dark Samurai wielding a black katana that was his size, materialized from the darkness. It wore a visor over it's eyes and his long hair streamed down his back.

"Irou! Take out that Mimic! No more favors, Earlton!"

Irou dashed through the Dark Door, sealing it and twirling his massive katana as if it were nothing. The Mimics lid opened and an army of tentacles issued forth. Irou slashed them aside contemptuously before shearing the Mimic itself in half.

"Now your Mimic, won't get any stronger!" Sandra said. At least she won one victory.

"I should say not" Earlton scoffed. "Especially since that was Dark Mimics highest level"

Sandra slumped. "And as if that wasn't bad enough," Earlton continued. "I get to draw two new cards since my Dark Mimic was destroyed!"

He plucked two cards from his deck and turned to the sarcophagus. "Luckily for you, since the final piece of Exodia is inside the Capsule, I can't draw it. But..."

Earlton drew and the clock advanced to one.

"And now I'll end my turn by summoning the Charcoal Inpachi in defence mode! (100/2100)

Charcoal Inpaci was once a wooden golem, but now all that remained was a coherent man of ash.

Earlton leered. "Your turn"

Sandra began to sweat_. I-I'm finished_. She thought weakly_. My attack won't be strong enough to destroy that Inpachi _and _defeat Earlton. And next turn he'll assemble Exodia! I-I can't win. _Tears of fear began to well up in her eyes. _I'm--_

"Sandra!" Jaden barked.

Sandra whirled, startled. "Don't give up! I've been thinking and I've got it figured out! You can beat him right here and now!"

Rusty looked bewildered. "She can?" But Issac nodded knowingly.

Sandra stared dumbly at Jaden.

"You can win!" Jaden urged. "Think about it. His greatest strength, is also his greatest weakness!"

Sandra looked blank for a moment longer, then, a wicked smile crossed her face. She whirled around to face Earlton.

"My Draw!" She snapped confidently.

"Now _that _sounds more like her" Rusty whispered. Issac nodded.

"I Summon The Six Samurai - Kamon!" (1500/1000)

A stocky warrior wearing a suit of armor made up of sticks of dynamite crouched on the field beside his comrades. He twirled a explosive in his fingers, a mischievous grin on his face.

"That's your big plan?" Earlton scoffed. "He's nowhere near enough to beat me!"

"That's what you think" Sandra sneered. "Kamon, like all his brothers has a special ability, as long as there's another 'Six Samurai' on the field, once per turn, he can destroy one face-up spell or trap card!"

Earlton's eyes were about to pop out of his head. "What!?"

Sandra pumped a fist. "Kamon! Strike!"

Kamon lit the explosive that was in his hand and hurled it at the sarcophagus. Earlton watched helplessly as the Capsule exploded, the final piece of Exodia still inside.

Earlton screamed in rage, a horrible noise.

"It's over" Sandra said contemptuously.

Rusty jerked his head towards the figure across from Sandra. "So, what's his story?" He asked Issac.

Issac shrugged. "He killed his father, the clan threw him in jail. No story"

"See, that's where you're wrong" Earlton hissed. "I didn't kill my father. He did!" He jabbed a finger at the Chaos Sorcerer.

"What?" Issac scoffed, looking at his spirit. "That's insane"

"Have you forgotten what I am?" Earlton asked, panting in anger.

Issac shook his head. "That's impossible" He insisted. "I was the first--"

"--to wirld the Chaos Sorcerer?" Earlton scoffed. "Of couse they _would _tell you that. Once they threw me into that hole, any record of my existence was erased. I was effectively dead to the clan. So when you came along, to them, you _were _the first"

Issac stared, dumbfounded. Earlton continued.

"They found me, and my father's still warm body in the same room, and jumped to conclusions. I was thrown in a cell, without trial, faster than you could say, 'Ra"

Jaden frowned. "So, wait. You _didn't _kill your dad?"

Earlton's eyes flashed. "Oh, no" He said. "I killed him alright" With that he bust into maniac laughter.

Issac turned to the Chaos Sorcerer. "Is this true?" He asked quietly.

The Chaos Sorcerer hung his head, and faded from sight.

Issac whirled. "Destroy him, Sandra" He forced out through clenched teeth.

Sandra's eyes flashed. "With pleasure" She snarled.

Earlton was still laughing, but he still managed to pant: "You-you, still can't get past my-my Inpachi!" He burst into fresh gales of laughter.

"That's where _you're _wrong! I activate the Spell Card United We Stand!" Now Yariza gains 800 attack points for every monster on my side of the field, and that's 4!"

The Six Samurai - Yariza (1000--4200/500--3800)

"Yariza! Finish him!"

Yariza let his chain out to it's full extent. Then he gave it one whirl high above his head. As it passed each of his fellow Samurai, they tossed up their weapons to get caught in the chain's links. Once Irou's katana, the Grandmaster's longsword and Kamon's dynamite had caught on, Yariza raised the chain high over his head and brought it slamming down on Earlton, with all the force of the four warriors combined.

Sandra: 2200

Earlton: 0000, 4 Pieces of Exodia

Earlton was knocked to the ground. He sat up, still giggling as the greyness spread from his feet across his body. He was still laughing as he turned to ash and blew away.

The ring of black fire vanished. Sandra felt a little weak kneed. Issac breathed a sigh of relief, then rounded on Jaden.

"We need to talk" He growled, and stalked off. Sandra deactivated her Duel Disk and followed. Rusty shot a worried look a Jaden before going after his friends.

_I told you._

Jaden sighed and he,too left the clearing.

* * *

Issac burst into Chancellor Rhodes office. He pointed at her accusingly as he strode forward. "What's the big idea?!" He demanded.

Rhodes was not even in the least bit startled. she came around her desk and advanced on Issac.

"The big idea" She snapped. "Was to save your life!"

"It's none of your business!"

"You are a student under my tutelage, that _makes _it my business!"

The two were standing almost nose to nose by now. Issac stared up into Rhodes eyes steadily.

Jaden stepped between them. "Hey, you two" He said firmly. "Cool it"

The two stepped apart, still fuming.

"Alexis" Jaden siad quietly. "We can't stop them"

Something clikced then. Issac turned to Rusty and Sandra. "So _that's _ho you knew Chancellor Rhodes" He realized.

Rusty nodded. "She came into the shop one day to reminisce with Jaden. Apparently they went to school together"

"Went to school together?" Alexis asked. "I should say so. Jaden here saved the school several times, he's faced more threats than you could imagine"

"You're making me blush, Lexi" Jaden grinned. Alexis ignored him.

"Jaden is much more equipped and prepared to deal with this than you are. After your little duel with Drake and Jumien, I called him up and offered him a position as a teacher as a cover" Alexis explained.

"But how did you know in the first place?" Issac asked.

"Lily"

"Lily?" Issac asked, confused.

A side door opened and a blue-haired girl wearing an Obelisk Blue outfit walked in.

She giggled and flashed a V with her fingers. "At your service"

"Oh, great" Sandra muttered. "She's _perky_"

"I heard that" Lily chirped, not sounding in the least offended.

"Lily is the top duelist here at the academy"

"Well, I was" She giggled. "Now that Issac's here, I'm not sure what I am now"

"Second?" Issac offered.

"Third" Rusty stated, holding up three fingers.

"Fourth" Sandra clarified.

Lily laughed again. "You all are going to give me a complex"

"That still doesn't explain--"

"--I was following you" Lily piped in.

Issac turned. "Huh?"

"That day? I was in the card shop when you beat Allen! I was impressed, so I followed you to find out more. I was hoping to scope out your deck in case we had to duel! But anyway, I heard everything and came here to tell Chancellor Rhodes. I've been following you ever since"

"And I suppose it was you who put Polymerization in my deck?" Issac asked.

Lily shook her head, actually looking troubled. "That wasn't me"

Jaden looked confused. "Polymerization? What?"

"A few night's ago Sandra and I tag dueled a pair from the clan and someone had put Polymerization in my deck. Without it we would've lost the Duel, not to mention our lives"

Jaden frowned. "Mabye you put it in your deck by accident"

Issac shook his head. "Impossible, both I and the Chaos Sorcerer would've known. Plus, when I took a second look after the duel? Both it and the fusion monster I summoned were gone"

They all were quiet at this. "So..this means what?"

"It means, there's someone else involved, someone who's pulling the strings, who want's you to survive" Sandra deduced.

That was all Rhodes needed. "That's it" She said. " We've got Jaden here now. And now that he's here, you're all off this"

"Off what!?"

"You can't stop us!"

"This is our fight!"

"It's none of your buisness!"

"I don't care!" Rhodes snapped. "And if I hear one more word, or I find out about any more covert duels? You're all expelled!"

Jaden broke in. "Alexis" He said, shaking his head. "We can't stop them"

Alexis looked at him plantively. "But-but you've done it before..."

"Exactly" Jaden took her by the shoulders. "My time is over, this is their turn"

"But, Jaden!" Alexis pleaded. "They could be killed!"

"We have to let them do this, Alexis" Jaden persisted. "You know as well as I do, that if we hadn't gone through what we did, we wouldn't be half the people we are today. Shadow Riders, The Society of Light, Darkness, Yubel" A shadow passed over his face. "Haou?"

Alexis seemed to deflate then. She turned back to Issac and the others. Then, her old energy seemed to return. "I want weekly updates" She said, pointing. "And you tell me before you run off and do anything stupid"

"Fine, but you keep you and yours out of this" Issac rejoined.

"Deal"

* * *

Issac lagged behind a bit as he and Rusty walked back to their dorms. Jaden had stayed to talk with Chancellor Rhodes a bit longer.

_You there?_

The Chaos Sorcerer silently appeared beside him.

_I have to ask, you know._

The Chaos Sorcerer said nothing for a long moment.

**_I couldn't stop him. _**He said at last. **_He had drawn off an incredible portion of my power beforehand and I was too weak to resist. He-he took what I was, and he perverted it. Afterwards, the clan forced him to under go a lengthy and painful ritual that destroyed our bond. The pain as excruiating. Afterwards, I retreated back into my card, until you came._**

Issac said nothing.

**_Earlton wasn't always like that, he was actually quite brilliant once. But in the course of his studies, he drew off bits and peices of my power, and by the time I realized what he was doing, I was too weak to stop him._**

Neither said nothing for a long time.

**_I know I've never really asked you anything before, but, if you value me as a friend, never ask me about this again._**

They continued on in silence.

_Damien. That he would send someone like that after me. He's sunk to levels I didn't even know existed. _

_And I'm going to destroy him_.

* * *

**EEEAAAGGHH! Done! Finally! And I got it done faster than usual! Which is quite an accomplishment for me considering this is the longest chapter yet. (again) These just keep getting longer and longer. Earlton's deck is actually one that I use personally. And let me tell you, for the other guy, its ANNOYING. *evil laughter* It's almost impossible to attack without falling in to a trap, and I don't mean the card Type. **

**Hey, I just found something out! You know that little purplish button down there? It let's you post reviews! Try it out! It's really fun! (Would you do it if I told you there was candy inside?) Till Then,**

**GAME ON!**


	11. Designer and Duelist

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 11: Designer and Duelist**

**I know, I know. ANOTHER LONG WAIT. But I was traveling a lot lately, plus I had a case of Duelists Block that would've made even Yugi shake his head.**

**I just set up a Beta Reader Account (Horray for shameless plugging!) If you ever need a sounding board, or are just too lazy to check for typos yourself, lemme know!**

* * *

Jaden left the next day and for a while, things went on peacefully at Duel Academy. Or at least as peaceful as things could go on that particular island...

Sandra strode through the library, hoping to find something good to read, when she saw something that made her stop dead.

Sara was sitting at a table, which was on the verge of collapsing thanks to the colossal amount of books stacked on top of it.

As Sandra watched, Sara leapt up raced over to the bookshelf and yanked an impossibly thick book off the shelf. She staggered back to the table and wrenched the book open. She scanned a page for a moment, hurriedly scribbled a note then dashed off, returning with several more books.

Sandra only vaguely knew Sara, mostly from seeing her hanging around that poser Issac. But even so, behavior like this in such a usually quiet girl was enough to pique her curiosity

"Sara?" Sandra stepped forward.

Sara barely glanced up from a paper she was scribbling on.

"Oh, hi. Sandra, right?"

"Right...what's going on here?"

Sara leapt up again and rooted through the mountain of books until she found the one she was looking for.

"Is this for your database?"

"Not exactly..."

Sara looked horrible. She was pale, her clothes were wrinkled and her hair appeared as if she had just emerged from a tornado.

"So, what is all this?"

"I really don't have time to explain. So if a monster is strong enough..." She trailed off, flipping through the book like a maniac.

"How long have you been at this?" Sandra asked.

"I don't know how long, I haven't had time to eat since I got up and..."

Sandra rolled her eyes and grabbed Sara by her arm. "Come on" She groaned, dragging Sara away from her precious books. Sara stretched out towards the stacks.

"But if you'll just let me..."

"Come!" The look in Sandra's eyes and the tone in her voice brooked no argument.

Sandra pulled Sara to the Academy cafeteria and shoved her into a chair.

"Stay" She commanded and left. She returned in time with a tray piled high with sandwiches, fruits and several cartons of juice. She sat it down in front of Sara and took the seat across from her.

"Eat"

Sara nibbled at a sandwich before drawing a slim book from her pocket. "Well...at least I can get a little work in..."

Sandra ripped the book out of her hands. Sara looked shocked and a little frightened.

"...at least I still have my bookmark in my place..." She said hopefully.

Sandra rolled her eyes again and pulled the bookmark out.

Sara's face fell. Sandra pointed the bookmark at her. "Eat" She commanded again.

Sara returned to her meal. She ate slowly at first, then with increasing speed as if she hadn't realized just how hungry she was. She finally finished the last crumb before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Thanks" She exhaled.

"Talk" Sandra commanded.

Sara took a last sip of juice before speaking. "You know that I'm here studying to become a card designer, right?"

Sandra nodded.

"Well, a position just opened at Industrial Illusions and Pegasus has offered it to the DA student with the highest grades"

Sandra scowled. "With all the studying you do, you should be a shoo-in"

Sara laughed. "I wish, I actually have perfect grades and as it figures there's only one other student who has perfect grades as well"

"So?"

"So, they've decided that we should Duel for the position. Winner take all."

"And..."

A note of panic entered Sara's voice. " And I've never dueled before in my life" She wailed.

"I mean, I know the basic rules and all, and the concept. But I don't have the slightest clue how to actually play! I don't even have a real deck! That's why I was reading all those books, I figured I could find some tips or secret strategy to help me win. God knows I'll need it!"

"Why?"

"Don't you know who I'm going to be dueling? Lily?"

Recognition dawned on Sandra's face. "She's not some perky Obelisk, is she?"

Sara nodded. "She's the top duelist on the island besides Issac too! Plus..."

Sandra growled and stood up. She grabbed Sara by her arm and started pulling her off again.

Sara stopped rambling long enough to ask. "Where are we going?"

"To see Issac" Sandra replied curtly. "He'll help. Or else I'll rip his head off and feed it to him"

* * *

When the two girls barged into the two Silfer's room they found Rusty moaning on the bed and a fuming Issac standing next to him.

"What happened?" Sara asked.

"Hot-dog eating contest" Issac snapped.

"He won?"

"Almost, he got disqualified"

"How do you get disqualified from a hot dog eating contest?" Sandra sneered.

"Oh, I'll tell you how" Issac said heatedly, turning to the two girls. "He finished his plate off just fine, way before Trey. You know, that Ra?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So...Mr. Hollow Leg here ended up eating _Trey's_ hot dog's too!"

He turned back to the moaning Rusty. "I had a rare card riding on you, you idiot!" He berated. "It was worth good money!"

"But...they were so good..."

Sara giggled and Sandra rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, we don't have time for your little sob story, Issac" Sandra said. "Sara here needs help"

"Yeah?" Issac turned back to them. "So what's up?"

Sandra told him the whole story. "So she needs a good deck and she needs to learn how to use it by tomorrow"

Issac nodded. "I was just starting to get bored. This oughta keep me occupied for a while" He turned to Sara.

"What kind of a deck would you prefer?" She shrugged.

"Right then" Rusty leapt down out of his bed. "Let's get to it!" He said energetically.

Issac stared at him. "You were having the non-alcoholic equivalent of a hangover just a few seconds ago. What happened to you?"

Rusty shrugged. "Fast metabolism" He explained.

"Do you _ever _get bored of living with him?" Sandra asked.

Issac shook his head ruefully. "I'm still having nightmares about the noodle incident"

He bent down and pulled several briefcases from under the bed. When he opened them, they were revealed to be overflowing with cards.

"Where the heck did you get all these?" Sandra breathed in amazement.

Issac smile mysteriously. "Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets" He said enigmatically.

Half an hour later the four of them were sprawled across the room, flipping through Issac's impressive collection. They picked out staples and set aside the other cards they thought Sara might like or need.

By the end of the hour they had collected several dozen cards into neat stacks.

Issac nodded to them. "Go to it, kid"

Sara bit her lip and towards the pile, picking the cards she liked.

"Something like this?" She asked several minutes later.

Issac took the 40 cards from her and looked through them.

He shook his head. "Now way this is going to work, it's just a rag-tag jumble"

Sara hung her head. "So I should just give up then?" She asked in a small voice.

Sandra glared daggers at Issac. He ignored her.

"I didn't say that. _This _deck may be useless. But I can see a pattern here" He glanced through it again.

"You seem to like Fairies. Right?"

Sara blushed and nodded. "I'm not sure how good they are, or how good I'll be able to use them but..."

Issac and Sandra shared a look, remembering Jumien.

"Oh, don't worry" Issac said. "We know _plenty _about Fairies"

Now that they knew were looking for, the four duelists sifted through Issac's collection again. Now, when Sara handed Issac the cards she had picked out he simply smiled and nodded.

Rusty spoke up. "Hey, I got an idea"

Issac groaned. "No, Rusty. Remember what happened last time you had an 'idea'?"

"Hey! The blood stains came out!"

Sara paled. "...Blood....stains?"

Rusty shot Issac a look.

"There won't be any blood here, just listen, OK?"

Rusty handed a card to Sara. "Try using this"

Sara took one look at the card and recoiled. "Eeew! I don't want this, it's a Fiend!"

"Just listen" Rusty said patiently and explained. When he finished even Sandra was smiling at the idea.

"O.K. You guys" Issac said turning to the others. "I assume you have your decks with you?"

Sandra scoffed. "Don't insult me" She and Rusty drew their decks from their cases.

"Good" Issac turned back to Sara, holding up her deck. "Time for you to learn how to use this baby"

And so Sara's training began.

* * *

It was late when they finished training and the two girls left.

"You made a lot of progress" Sandra commented.

"Not hard when you had none to begin with" Sara sighed.

"Hey, every journey begins with one small step" Sandra said. "You took about two big ones today"

Sara sighed. "I suppose so..." She rubbed her eyes. "I'm starting to see Life Point counters whenever I close my eyes" She moaned.

"You do look ready to drop" Sandra mused. "C'mon, you're crashing at my dorm tonight"

Sara's eyes snapped open.

"Oh...no, I-i couldn't"

"Why not?"

"W-what about your roommates? I-i'd just be in the way!"

"I don't have any roommates" Sandra rejoined. "I've got the whole place to myself, so you'll have plenty of beds to choose from"

Sara opened her mouth to protest again but Sandra cut her off.

"Listen," She said. "If I let you go back to your dorm, chances are you'll bury your nose in a book again and spend all night researching. Then, you won't be able to duel worth a Soitsu tomorrow"

Sara sighed in resignition. "Ok..."

* * *

Sandra's dorm was fairly bare. When Sara asked why Sandra shrugged.

"I told you" She said. "I'm the only one living here"

Sara looked around. "All by yourself? It must get lonely, you practically have an entire apartment all you yourself"

"It's not so bad, really" Sandra said, but Sara caught the faintest traces of sadness in her voice.

Sara sat cross-legged on Sandra's bed, both girls having already changed into pajamas.

"Say" Sara asked. "What do you think of Issac?"

Sandra froze while brushing her hair. "Why do you ask?" She resumed brushing as if nothing had happened.

Sara shrugged. "I don't know, you two just seem to really hate each other"

Sandra snorted. "Please, we've got every reason to. Issac is a pompous jerk. Didn't you see the way he was strutting around here before I beat him?"

Sara frowned. "I wouldn't call that being pompous..."

"You wanna bet? Some of the girls told me that when they tried talking to him he totally blew them off!"

Sara bit her lip. "It just seems to me like you'd be better friends..."

Sandra spun towards Sara so fast her brush went flying.

"What?!" She asked, incredulous. "How'd you figure?"

"You're both great duelists..."

"So were Kaiba and Yugi, but they hated each others guts!"

"...You're both incredibly stubborn..."

"Are not!"

"...and from the way you put it, you both look down on others"

Sandra was silent for a moment. "I don't look down on others..."

"Yes you do! Remember all those comments you made about him being a Slifer?"

"I was just trying to get under his skin!"

"Doesn't matter!"

Sara looked at Sandra for a long moment, then shook her head.

"I should've emphasized the 'stubborn' part more" She mumbled as she slid off the bed.

In the doorway, she turned. "You and Issac _are _more alike than you think. Get to know him, who knows, you might end up liking him"

Sandra turned out her light and flopped onto the bed. She could hear Sara doing the same in the next room over.

She stared up at the darkness. She refused to admit it to herself, but she had a sinking feeling, that Sara was right...

* * *

Rusty and Issac were waiting near the Academy's main entrance early the next morning. Rusty sat on one of the monoliths lining the walk up to the main door. Issac on the other hand was pacing back and forth nervously.

"Geez, settle down will ya?" Rusty yawned. "You keep that up, you'll wear a groove in the rock! I don't see why _you're _so nervous, you're not the one dueling"

"I can't help it" Issac said. "I keep worrying there's something vital I forgot to tell her, or some awesome strategy I overlooked"

Rusty sprawled back across the statue. "We've done all we can for her" He said. "We dueled her so much I thought she was going to drop by the time she and Sandra left yesterday. Our part is done, the rest has to come from herself"

Issac glared at him in exasperation. "Since when did you become such a deep thinker?"

Rusty Smirked. "Hey, one of us has to keep a cool head and think things through. Especially when you start acting like a psycho, or in this case an old mother hen" Then he grew serious.

"How did you get all those cards anyway? You said you only got away from the Clan by the skin of your teeth"

Issac grinned mysteriously. "I told you, never--"

"--Never ask a magician to reveal his secrets, I know"

_Still, though. I _ knew _he was hiding something else from me, now I just have to figure out what..._

Rusty was about to ask another question, but Issac was spared the interrogation by the arrival of the two girls.

Rusty frowned. "I figured you'd show up separately"

"Sara crashed at my place last night. She had some stuff she wanted to talk about" Sandra explained.

Issac raised an eyebrow. "I hope you two wern't up all night painting each others toenails. Sara's going to need to be well rested for this"

Sandra looked down her nose at him and did'nt deign to reply.

She turned to Sara.

"I forgot to give you this last night" She said, handing Sara a card.

"I figured it'd go well with that one idea Rusty had"

Sara looked at it and smiled. "Hey, thanks"

Rusty slid off the sculpture. "Well, whatever" He shrugged. "Let's do this"

* * *

Surprisingly only a few people were waiting in the stands in the arena. Most of the teachers were there, as well as Chancellor Rhodes and a few of Sara's friends.

Issac clapped a hand on Sara's shoulder. "Good luck" He said. "We're all rooting for you" Sara looked pale, but she nodded and headed towards the arena anyway.

Lily spotted them from the arena where she was waiting. She waved at them energetically and hopped up and down.

"You know" Sandra muttered. "I'm almost hoping for Sara to lose. That way we won't have to put up with Miss Flower down there"

"Sandra!" Issac snapped, shocked.

"Ok, Ok" Sandra grumbled. "I didn't mean it...sheesh"

Sara reached the arena.

"Hey!" Lily squealed. "How's it going?"

"Um...O.K....I guess" Sara smiled weakly.

Lily wasn't fooled for a second.

"Oh, don't worry" She cooed. "You're gonna do fine, let's just have fun, alright?"

"Sure" Sara's smile became a little more stable.

Chancellor Rhodes approached.

"Are both of you ready?" She asked.

Both Obelisks nodded.

"You both know the stakes of this duel" Rhodes continued. "The winner will continue on to become a Duel Monsters card designer at Industrial Illusions, agreed?"

"Agreed" They chorused.

"Then whenever you're ready"

"Ready?" Lily asked.

"No," Sara sighed. "But here we go anyway..."

"DUEL!"

Sara: 4000 LP

Lily: 4000 LP

"I'll let you start off" Lily mused as she scanned her hand

"Thanks" Sara pulled a card from her deck and, after a quick glance, slid it into the corresponding slot.

"I'll start by Summoning the Dunames Dark Witch!(1800/1200)"

With a glimmer of light, a pretty, brown haired fairy appeared on Sara's field. She opened her eyes, smiled, and spread her silver wings and floated into the air.

"Next, I'll equip her with Cestus of Dialga!"

Dunames raised one hand in the airand a lattice of light danced around it. In a few seconds the light had solidified into a band of engraved gold that twisted around Dunames hand.

"Thanks to it" Sara explained. "Dunames get's 500 more attack points!"

Dunames Dark Witch: (1800--2300/1200)

"And now, I"ll end my turn by playing The Sanctuary in the Sky!"

Sara held the card up. A bank of clouds rolled in and covered the field. At the same time a massive temple made from white marble rose behind Sara, casting a soft, yet piercing glow across the field.

"Thanks to it" Sara said, admiring the hologram. "I take no damage in a battle involving Fairy-type monsters"

Lily giggled. "Impressive" She said. "But now it's my draw, and I'll summon my D.D. Warrior in defence mode!"

A young warrior with bright red hair and a crazy-looking suit of armor crouched on Lily's side of the field.

"I'll set two cards face-down and end my turn"

"This ain't good" Issac mumbled.

Sandra turned to him. "Did you know what kind of deck she ran?"

"Of course not!" Issac snapped. "If I had, I would've prepared her for something like this"

"Uh, mind cluing me in on what's going on here?" Rusty asked, confused.

Issac gnawed on a thumbnail. "Lily's deck is one the specializes in removing cards from play"

Rusty frowned. "So? Yours and mine do the same thing"

"But Lily's deck is one that revolves around it, ours just use it as a side bonus. You've never seen a full on D.D. or Different Dimension deck in a duel have you?"

Rusty shook his head.

"Keep watching then, if in the right hands, as I'm assuming Lily's are, they can be devastating. Take that D.D. Warrior of Lily's for example, it removes from play any monster that battles with it, as well as itself"

Rusty whistled.

Sara knew all about D.D. decks and was rightfully worried.

_I'd better push my advantage, while I still have one. _She though to herself as she drew.

"I'll also equip Dunames with the equip spell Big Bang Shot!"

A blue aura surrounded Dunames as Sara continued.

"Now, thanks to Big Bang Shot, Dunames inflicts piercing damage and gains another 400 attack points!"

Dunames Dark Witch: (2300--2700/1200

Lily's eyes narrowed. _Not bad._ She thought. _Severely_ d_amaging me AND recovering a good chunk of life points in one fell swoop. It won't be enough though, not with what I have planned--_

She was jolted out of her reverie as Sara struck.

"Dunames! Attack the D.D. Warrior!"

Dunames took flight. Light gathered around the Cestus and she leveled it at the warrior. A golden beam of energy shot out, peircing through the D.D. Warrior's side, and continuing on to strike Lily head on.

The warrior grimaced in pain, but before he was destroyed, he leveled his sword at Dunames, firing a ruby-red beam at the angel.

Dunames screamed in pain from the blow, both monsters shimmered like reflections in a rippling pond before vanishing into a stream of golden sparkles.

Lily had been knocked back a step from the ferocity of the blow, while Sara had been surrounded by a gentle green glow.

Sara: 5700 Life Points

Lily: 2600 Life Points

Rusty laughed triumphantly. "How's that?" He cheered. "If she keeps dueling like this she's got it in the bag!"

Sandra stared at him as if he were nuts. "Are you crazy?" She asked.

"Sara may have struck a blow, but she's left herself wide open!"

Rusty shrugged. "Meh. Details, I'm sure she's got something planned.

Sara slipped a card into her disk. "And now I'll summon my Light Effigy! (1500/0)"

A swirling nimbus of light motes glided from the sanctuary behind Sara to alight on her field.

"See?" Rusty said. "She's got herself covered"

But apparently not.

"I activate my trap card!" Lily exclaimed as the brown backed reverse card opened. "Bottomless Trap Hole! Now your effigy is removed from play!"

The Effigy shimmered for a moment, before vanishing as quickly as it had arrived.

Rusty swallowed.

Issac raised an eyebrow. "You were saying?"

"Sara's in trouble alright"

The three students looked up to see Chancellor Rhodes approach and take a seat next to them.

"Chancellor" Issac greeted her. "Why isn't hardly anyone else here?"

"I knew that this was Sara's first real duel" Rhodes said, never taking her eyes from the girl. "I saw no need to add to her anxeity by having several dozen sets of eyes on her"

Issac nodded appreciatively.

"I have to admit" Rhodes continued. "You three did an impressive job of training her"

Issac's head snapped towards Rhodes. "How'd you know?" He demanded. "I thought I said no more spying!"

"Issac" Rusty hissed, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"I wasn't spying" Rhodes said, nonplussed. "I knew that since you were friends, you would do everything you could to help her out"

She turned to Issac, meeting his gaze. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Issac sighed and nodded. "Sorry" He mumbled.

Meanwhile, Sara was thinking hard. She had made a critical error, but things wern't irreparable. Not yet anyway.

"I'll set one card face-down, and end my turn" She said as the holographic representation appeared.

"And I'll start mine by summoning the D.D. Assailant!" Lily exclaimed, summoning the monster without even looking at her newly drawn card.

A lithe, white garbed ninja dashed onto Lily's field, wielding an oversized blade etched with runes.

"D.D. Assailaint! Attack!"

The assassin struck, swinging the same-sized blade with ridiculous speed and accuracy.

Sara: 4000 Life Points

Lily: 2600 Life Points

Sara gasped as the blade passed through her, knocking both the wind and a good chunk of life points from her.

"And to finish my turn I'll activate two Continuous Spell cards!" Lily said. "The first is called Soul Absorption. Now, whenever a card is removed from play, I get 500 life points!"

Sara swallowed.

"And the next is Dimensional Fissure! So from now on, instead of being destroyed, all monsters are removed from play"

The three friends up in the stands looked at each other. Yeah, that was going to hurt...

"M-my draw" Sara panted. _That was stupid of me, I've gotta stop rushing, I've got time, this deck can hold out for as long as it needs to._

She looked at her new card.

"I activate Graceful Charity, letting me draw three cards at the cost of discarding two!"

Sara took her time making her decisions before finally sliding a pair of cards into the graveyard.

"I summon Agido in defense mode!(1500/1300)"

A large orange oval with wings and a single golden eye winked into existence on Sara's field.

Lily raised an eyebrow.

"What's that thing gonna do? In case you'd forgotten, my Assailant is still stronger"

Sara shrugged. "Doesn't matter, my sanctuary will still protect my from any damage"

Lily narrowed her eyes. _That's right....she's up to something, but I'll bite. Who knows? Could be a challenge...for a change._

"It's my move!" Lily barked, pulling the top card from her deck.

"I play the Dimensional Alchemist! (1300/200)"

This time then monster that was summoned was a figure wearing a suit of silver armor laced with gold.

"And he's got a handy effect too! Once per turn I can remove from play the top card on my deck..."

Lily flipped the top card over and held it up.

"...and in return, he gains 500 attack points!"

Dimensional Alchemist: (1300--1800/200)

"Plus, thanks to my Soul Absorption, I recover 500 life points!"

Sara: 4000 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

"Now, Dimensional Alchemist, Attack Agido!"

The Alchemist held up his hands and a swirling vortex of blood-red and midnight-blue appeared between them. Lily held the card out and it was quickly sucked into the swirling portal. As it did so a red aura surrounded him.

The Dimensional Alchemist turned back towards Sara and stretched his hands out. The card shot out from the portal and smashed straight through Agido like a bullet through a glass pane.

Sara: 3700 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

As Agido's shards fell, a silver dice dropped from the remains.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"That's Agido's special effect" Sara explained as she stooped to pick the small cube up.

"Now I get to roll this, and special summon from my graveyard a monster whose level is equal to the number I rolled" Sara said as she tossed the dice lazily into the air. The chrome block swelled in size as it came down so that everyone there could see the result.

When the dice stopped spinning three dots stared up at the onlookers.

Issac smiled, nodding in a satisfied fashion.

"That should do the trick"

Rusty looked at him like he was crazy. "Uh, Sara just rolled a three. A monster that's that low a level can't be that much help"

"Think so?" Issac asked. "Just watch"

Sara fanned her deck and chose a monster. "I summon The Agent of Force - Mars! (0/0)"

An angel with striking red hair and blood red robes strode down the sanctuary's steps, a massive war-hammer in one hand.

Rusty was about to speak again but Issac cut him off.

"Keep watching..."

"Zero attack points?" Lily was as perplexed as everyone else. "What can--"

She was cut off as several bolts of pure light shone from the peak of the sanctuary and struck Mars' upraised hammer, causing him to glow a deep blood red..

The Agent of Force - Mars: (0/0--600/600)

"As long as The Sanctuary in the Sky is on my field, and my life points are higher than my opponents, Mars gains attack points equal to the difference in our life points"

Lily snorted. "Big help that is, thanks to our life points being so close, your fairy has hardly any attack points to speak of!"

"Mabye he doesn't right now, but what about after I activate this?" Sara flipped a switch on her disk and her trap card rose to activate itself.

"Aegis of Gaia! Now for as long as this card is face up, I get 3000 free life points!"

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 3100 Life Points

"Not to mention Mars getting power-up as well!"

The Agent of Force - Mars (600/600--3600/3600)

Mars swelled in size until he stood nearly seven feet tall.

"Now Mars!" Sara commanded. "Show them why you're the angel of force!"

Mars raised his massive hammer high over his head and swung it down with a devastating blow, crushing the Dimensional Alchemist like tin.

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 1300 Life Points

"And sice the gap in our life points increased" Sara cheered. "Mars gets even stronger!"

Lily shook her head to clear the stars from her vision, that last attack had packed a wallop and sent her reeling.

"But don't forget" she countered. "Since my Dimensional Alchemist was destroyed and removed from play, I get 500 life points!"

Sara: 6700 Life Points

Lily: 1800 Life Points

The Agent of Force - Mars: (3600/3600--5400/5400)

Rusty chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "Looks like Sara's got this one in the bag"

"I wouldn't count on it" Chancellor Rhodes murmured.

Rusty looked confused. "Eh?"

"Sara may be doing well" Issac said. "But this is still only her first real duel and apart from us Lily's the top duelist in the school" He gave Rusty a quick glance. "I suggest saving the victory dance until this duel is over"

"But my victory dance is awesome" Rusty whined.

"Awesomely bad mabye" Issac snorted.

"I set one card and end my turn" Sara said.

_She'll end me if I don't start playing like I mean it soon. _Lily thought as she drew. _But for the time being, this card should help me end that overgrown feather-brain of hers._

"I activate the Mystical Space Typhoon!"

Issac raised an eyebrow. "Told you Lily hadn't had her say yet, this duel just got a whole lot more interesting..."

The blue tornado demolished the Sanctuary like a gale blowing through a pile of flour.

As the last white marble stone fell to the ground, Mars's attack fell with it.

The Agent of Force - Mars (5400/5400--0/0)

"What's going on?" Sara asked in bewilderment, staring at her de-powered monster.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Mars's attack point boost only remains in effect while the Sanctuary in the Sky is in play. It's your own monster, you should know stuff like that. What, is it your first duel or something?"

Sara chuckled weakly. Fourtnately, or mabye unfortunately, Lily didn't notice because she was making her own move.

"D.D. Assailaint take out Sara's Mars!"

The ninja slipped gracefully forward, dispatching the crimson angel with a swipe of it's sword.

Sara: 5000 Life Points

Lily: 1300 Life Points

Sara grunted as she took the full force of the blow. Simultaneously, Mars vanished into a stream of golden motes.

"I'll set two cards face-down, and end my turn" Lily announced.

"Looks like Lily's making a comeback" Sandra noted. "Sara may be in the lead, but Lily's got the advantage"

Rusty looked worried. "Yeah, if Lily keeps this up, Sara's toast!"

"You're forgetting" Issac said."She may've been toast to begin with, considering who she's dueling.."

Nobody responded to that,

_No monsters, no traps and a next to useless hand. _Sara groaned inside. _This next draw better be a good one..._

"My Draw!" _Not bad, but not good either let's see how this goes..._

"I'll activate Pot of Greed! Which grants me two fresh cards. _And I couldn't have asked for better ones.  
_

Sara looked up into the stands and flashed a thumbs-up.

Rusty grinned. "Oh, yeah. Girl's about to let loose"

Issac remained skeptical. "Let's see if this idea of yours could actually work, for once"

"I activate my trap card! Sara announced. "Miraculous Descent! Now I can summon one of my monsters who has been removed from play, and I pick Light Effigy!(1500/0)"

A stream of golden sparkles descended onto the field before turning to silver and swirling into a semi-coherent form.

"Light Effigy has a special effect that when it's tributed for a Light monster, the tribute counts as two! So say goodby to Effigy and hello to the Guardian Angel Joan(2800/2000)!

The entire room suddenly shone with pure light.

"Woah!" Lily was forced to cover her eyes, as was everyone else in the room. After several seconds, the light dimmed.

"Sara, what the heck was--" Lily turned and beheld the angel that graced Sara's field. She was tall, with flaming red red hair. She wore a simple white robe, edged with gold. Joan smiled gently across the room, and for a few seconds, everybody there felt warm, safe and contented.

It was Sara who broke the spell. "Next, I'll play Polymerization! This let's me fuse Marie the Fallen One with The Forgiving Maiden to create St. Joan!(2800/2000)"

The Joan who stepped out from the fusion portal was a dead ringer for the angel standing next to her. Only this time, Joan was dressed in a plain suit of white armor which was also gilded with gold and in both hands, she gripped a large sword.

"Now for _my _part of the plan" Sandra grinned.

"Your part?" Rusty asked. "Wha--?"

"And next, I activate Brothers in Arms!"

"Oh" Rusty said. "That part"

"In this case, I suppose the proper term would be Sisters in Arms" Sara mused looking at Sandra's card. "But it's not like it matters at this point anyway. Brothers in Arms has two effects, but for them to work, I need two monsters on my field with identical attack and defense points"

She glnaced up a the two Joans. "Check"

"Then I have to send both of them to the graveyard and I gain Life Points equal to their Defense points, all the monsters on your side of the field are destroyed, and you take damage equal to their Attack points"

Sara looked up and met Lily's eyes. "This is the end" She stated.

_Got that right. _Lily mused.

"Lets go!" Sara slammed the card into the slot.

The Guardian Angel spread her arms and wings and glided into the air above Sara, as she did so a stream of golden dust descended on her, replenishing her Life Points. As the dust fell however, she faded from sight.

St. Joan on the other hand, was nowhere as subtle. With a shout she seized her sword and charged at Lily, slashing through her D.D. Assailaint as she did so before leaping at Lily and dealing a smashing blow as she exploded.

"Yes!" Sara cheered. Rusty had leapt to his feet and started cheering also. Only Issac, Sandra and Chancellor Rhodes remained in their seats. All were looking grim.

"What's wrong?" Rusty asked, still grinning. Issac nodded towards the arena. "Take a look"

The smoke had thinned just ebnough to reveal Lily, still standing tall.

Sara: 7000 Life Points

Lily: 200 Life Points

Sara stood there, staring.

Lily folded her arms. "You played a good game, Sara. But it ends here"

"H-how....did...you?" Sara stammered.

"Survive?" Lily asked. She held up a trap card. "Option Hunter. When a monster of mine is destroyed, I gain Life Points equal to his attack. Which was just enough to help me survive"

Rusty collapsed back into his chair, pulling at his hair. He recognized the look on Lily's face. It was the same look that had graced his may times, just when he was about to make a miraculous comeback against impossible odds.

"I believe it's my draw" Lily said simply. "I activate my final trap card, Return from the Different Dimension! Now in return for half my Life Ponts, I get tro revive all my monsters that have been removed from play!"

Sara: 7000 Life Points

Lily: 100 Life Points

With a blast of light, the Warrior, Assailant and Alchemist returned, each looking ready for revenge.

"Impressive, yes" Sara said, barely managing to keep the wavering from her voice. "But I'll still survive"

"Not once I summon the strongest monster in my deck, you won't!" Lily exclaimed, placing a single card in her disk.

"I Tribute my D.D. Warrior in order to Summon the White Horned Dragon(2200/1400)!

The warrior sank into the floor and with a deafening roar, was replaced by a massive red dragon. The dragon spread its wings and craned it's neck to get a look at Sara, it's silver horn shining in the light.

"When he's summoned," Lily said, looking up at her monster, "I get to remove from play up to five spell cards in your graveyard, and then my dragon get's 300 attack points per card!"

A beam of pure light shot from the dragon's horn and struckSara's graveyard, as it did so, the beam turned gold and the dragon swelled to an even more massive size.

White Horned Dragon: (2200--3700/1400)

At Lily's nod, both the Assailant and Alchemist attacked, striking Sara with sword and spellrespectively, causing Sara staggered from the force of the blow. Sara steadied herself and looked up at Lily. Lily gave her a nod of respect. "I enjoyed our duel" She said. "it's not often I get to enjoy a challenge like that. Thank you"

Sara nodded in return.

Lily raised a hand and pointed up at her dragon.

The dragon let out a roar and opened it's mouth. It's horn began to glow as a shining blast built in it's jaws.

"Strike!" Lily commanded.

The dragon fired, sending a torrent of energy at Sara that sounded something like a hurricane and a freight train combined.

The blow struck, knocking Sara clean off her feet and blowing away her life points like wet tissue.

Sara: 0000 Life Points

Lily: 100 Life Points

Issac, Rusty and Sandra raced down onto the field before the last tremors of the blow had quelled.

Sara got to her feet as they reached her and Lily walked forward also.

"Are you OK?" Rusty asked concernedly. "That was some blow"

"I'm OK" Sara laughed.

"Yeah, sorry about that" Lily giggled, immediately reverting back to her old perky ways. "I guess I kinda got carried away. I meant what I said, you know. That was the best duel I've had in a long time. I don't mean to sound big-headed or anything, but compared to me, everyone else here except for you guys are total pushovers. It was really getting boring"

"I'll bet" Issac commented. "You really did do well Sara, I trained you myself and even I can hardly believe this was your first duel!"

Lily's eyes grew to dinner plate proportions. "What?!" she squawked. "This was your first duel?!"

"Well, I only just started yesterday" Sara said shyly.

"Forget about being a card designer!" Lily said. "You should go into the Pro Leagues! You'd own the place!"

Sara smiled. "Thanks but, no. It took this duel to make me realize what I've been lacking as a designer. I mean, how am I supposed to know what kind of cards a duelist needs if I don't duel myself? You go on to Industrial Illusions" She said to Lily. "I'll be back here at DA next year, this time, as a duelist!"

Rusty nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "Looking forward to it"

* * *

Damien, Danor and Lucien stood in in Damien's "office" watching the assembled workers busy with their construction.

"So" Lucien mused. "That's it?" Lucien stood taller than Damien, with long dark hair that reached half-way down his back.

Danor adjusted her glasses. "That's it" She confirmed. "The workers have been informed tat it's a device that is being constructed in order to protect us from the rogue Clan member"

"Yeah" Lucien turned to Damien who had been silent all this time. "About that, what are we gonna do? We've tossed half our best duelists at him and he or his friends have annihilated every one of them!"

"We keep trying" Daminen said simply. "Give it time, we'll wear them down"

"Time is the one thing we don't have!" Lucien snapped.

"Lucien" Damien said, looking at him calmly. "Relax. I have everything under control"

Lucien glared at him heatedly. "Whatever" He said, turning. "I'm going to take on Issac myself"

"You will do no such thing!" Damien said sharply.

"Give me one good reason why not" Lucien growled.

"I'll give you two" Damien turned to him. "First off, it was _your _job to capture Issac when he first fled. You failed. Miserably."

Lucien's lip curled into a snarl.

"Secondly, I need you here to keep up appearances. Remember, the people think Issac is the evil one and are afraid of him. We need you here to 'protect' them"

"Bue what are we going to do?" Lucien insisted. "You know as well as I do that we're running out of time. If all Three aren't here when the time comes our chance will be ruined and we will _never _have another opportunity"

"My, my Lucien" Damien said dryly. "Anyone would think that you were merely making some thinly-veiled foreshadowing for the readers of some crappy fan-fic"

Lucien stared at him. "What?"

"Lucien. Relax. We just need to find someone who is willing to face the great Issac head-on for the safety of his or her clan"

Damien turned back towards the construction ongoing. "Thats all"

Danor squared her shoulders resolutely. "If I may, Sir?"

Damien turned towards her, a semi-amused look in his eye. "Yes?"

Danor adjusted her glasses. "Sir, I've analyzed every attempt to bring Issac in. I've studied every deck used by him and his cohorts as well as their tactics and I believe I've formulated a fool-proof plan to subdue all of them"

Damien raised an eyebrow. "Do you now?"

Danor nodded. "Yes, Sir. And with your permission I would like to begin work on it"

Damine rubbed his chin. "You've always been a hard worker, Danor" he mused. "You've always looked hard at every angle and been able to discern the perfect solution"

He turned to her. "Very well. You have my full permission to employ any method the bring the traitor Issac to justice"

Danor bowed slightly. "Thank you,Sir" She turned and started to leave, then turned back.

"It...may take...some time....to prepare and execute it, Sir" She said hesitantly.

Damine turned and gave her a reassuring smile. "Oh, don't worry, Miss Danor"

He turned to Lucien. "I have every confidence you will do _your_ job right the _first_ time" He said pointedly.

Lucien's eyes blazed with anger. Without a word he spun on his heel and strode off, long dark hair flowing behind him.

Damien chuckled quietly to himself and turned back to the construction project, hand resting on the hilt of the sword of the Black Luster Soldier.

His time was at hand...

* * *

**Yay! Done! I've been working on this chapter for a while, but technical difficulties, duelists block and general laziness have all ganged up on me. Again. Sorry. ^^'**

**And.....YES! I have once again unintentionally broken my record for longest chapter! Geeez....if this keeps up the last chapter will be longer than War and Peace...go figure.**

**Oh well. Please review or else I'll think nobody loves me, go all emo, start cutting myself, get blood all over the keyboard, and start updaing even slower cause all the keys are gummed up because of the blood. Please?**


	12. Power Lost, Power Gained

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh GX**

**Chapter 12: Power Lost, Power Gained**

**Yeowtch! This has GOTTA be one of my longest stalls yet. Sorry about this. I started out on this chapter with a full head of steam, but the I got bogged down with other things and had to take care of some review requests. (Which I STILL haven't finished yet) Oh, well...ON WITH THE UBER-CRAPPY STU-FILLED FAN-FIC! (Hey! Three hyphens in a row! WOOT!)**

* * *

"I activate the Spell Card Gear Town!"

_"Rusty."_

"And now, thanks to it,"

_"Rusty..."_

"I get to summon my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera for free!"

_"Uh, Rusty..."_

"And you're wide open!"

_"Rusty!"_

"Go my Chimera! Attack with--!"

"RUSTY!"

Rusty shot several feet straight up out of his chair before coming back down to land in a very uncomfortable position.

"Uh..." He squinted up into Issac's exasperated face. "Did I win?"

Issac shook his head. "I swear Rusty, you slept right through Duel 101. Again!"

Rusty shrugged. "Eh, no problem" He rubbed his head and laughed. "I think I learn more about dueling in my sleep anyway."

Issac just looked at him. Rusty shook his head. "Never mind. Why'd you wake me up anyway?"

Issac rolled his eyes. "The field trip, or had you forgotten? We're leaving right now!"

"Oh, right!" Rusty jumped up. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!" He took off running.

Issac shook his head and ran after him.

"Remind me again where we're going and why?" Rusty asked once everyone was safely on the helicopter.

"We're going to Domino City to visit the KaibaCorp Building" Issac explained in an exasperated tone of voice for the thousandth time that day.

"OK, that's the 'where" Rusty said. "Now how about the 'why'? Aren't we a little old to be going on field trips?"

Issac shrugged. "Search me. Far as I've heard, the only reason we're going is since Kaiba owns Duel Academy he's letting us do this for free."

Rusty grunted. "Figures..."

* * *

Once at the KaibaCorp building, the class was ushered inside by a needlessly perky tour guide.

"Welcome, children!" She chirped.

Issac shot Rusty a look. Children?

"On behalf of Seto Kaiba himself, I'd like to welcome you to the KaibaCorp building."

"Gee" Rusty muttered under his breath to Issac. "I had no clue where we were, good thing she cleared that up for us."

"Sarcastic much?" Issac replied.

Rusty glanced over the sea of heads to see Sandra with a sneer on her face.

"Looks like Porcupine over there isn't too taken with this tour guide either." He commented to Issac.

Issac was about to reply when his head snapped to one direction.

"What's up?" Rusty asked.

**_I'm not sure_**The Ancient Gear Demon materialized behind him. **_But if Issac's sensing the same thing I am then..._**

"It's a wounded Duel Spirit." Issac breathed.

A tiny winged dragon fluttered weakly around a corner, a large gash in it's side out of which oozed silver blood.

"Oh, man." Rusty whispered. "Is that thing OK?"

Issac shot him a look. "What do you think?"

"But who would, or could, do something like that?"

"I can think of a few people." Issac said venomously.

"You think the Clan caused something like that?" Rusty stared at the small spirit, desperately doing its best to stay airborne.

"I know it." Issac hissed. "C'mon, let's go see what we can do for it."

But as the two boys started to edge their way through the crowd, the dragon noticed them and shot off.

"Nuts." Issac growled. "We're going to have to chase it. You grab Sandra and tell Rhodes where we're going. I'm going after that dragon!"

Rusty nodded and muscled his way back through the crowd, ignoring several protests.

He tapped Sandra on the shoulder. She turned. "This'd better be important." She growled.

"Clan." Rusty mouthed and she nodded in understanding.

Rusty with Sandra in tow fought his way back through the crowd to where Chancellor Rhodes stood listening to the tour guide. She was trying to look interested and professional, but Rusty could tell that the perky guide was wearing on her nerves too.

"Clan." Rusty said quietly to her.

Rhodes made a face. "Are you sure?" She asked.

"Issac's already gone after them." Rusty said quickly. "We're going too."

Rhodes grimaced. Rusty could tell she didn't like letting them rush off like this.

"OK." She conceded. "But get back here before the chopper leaves. I'll say Issac wasn't feeling well and you two took him to a hospital or something."

Rusty nodded and without another word turned and hurried off.

"Which way now?" Sandra asked, once they were outside.

**_It would seem that the Chaos Sorcerer left a trail for us._** The Demon rumbled. **_Follow me._**

He turned down a nearby alley and sped off, Sandra and Rusty close on his heels.

As they ran, Rusty filled Sandra in on what they had seen.

"Aren't you worried that it's a trap?" Sandra puffed.

"A little." Rusty replied. "But we don't have much of a choice, do we? If this is legit we need to help that spirit!"

Sandra grunted in reply.

The Demon led them down several winding alleys and changed direction more than once before finally pulling up in front of what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.

Issac was waiting outside. "It went inside." He explained.

Sandra looked over the crumbling building. "A professional opera singer couldn't scream 'trap' louder." She growled.

Rusty shrugged. "Like I said, we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

Sandra folded her arms. "Whatever, I'm not going in there first."

Issac shook his head. "I never expected you to." He said.

He walked over and wrenched the rotten and rusted door open. With Rusty and Sandra behind him he strode in. The door slammed shut with an ominous clang.

"Dude." Rusty breathed. "What the heck?"

There was nothing inside. They were standing in a bare twenty-by-twenty foot room with the only light coming in through places in the ceiling where the rotted wood had fallen through.

Suddenly, the floor gave in beneath them, and everything went black.

* * *

Issac came to slowly, his vision blurred.

"Ooogh..." He moaned, sitting up, holding his throbbing head.

_What happened? _He asked his Duel Spirit.

**_I'm not sure. _**The Chaos Sorcerer said, coming into view beside him. **_But I think that--YEEEAAAARRRGHHH!_**

Issac whirled. The spirit with writhing in pain, his form writhing and flickering. Streaks of static raced across his form.

"What's going on?" Issac shouted.

**_IssaAAAAAAAAAA--!_**

The Chaos Sorcerer gave one last flicker then vanished, as if he had been blown away.

"No!" Issac shouted, staring at the place where his duel spirit had stood.

"NOOOO!"

* * *

Rusty sat up and looked around. He was sitting in a long dark corridor. The walls were made up of what seemed to be steel. He turned to find himself facing a blank wall.

_What happened to the others? _He asked.

**_I'm not sure. I--UURK!_**

The Ancient Gear Demon appeared, only to double over in pain.

"What?!" Rusty demanded. "What is it?"

**_There's--some--thing--wrong---with this place _**The spirit gasped. **_I--can't--hold on!_**

"Hold on!" Rusty quickly pulled his deck out and sifted through it until he found the Demons card.

"Here!" He held up the card. "Hide!"

The Ancient Gear Demon gratefully allowed himself to be sucked into the card.

Rusty sighed with relief as he tucked his deck away.

_Looks like I'm gonna have to find my way out of here without his help._

He started off down the hallway.

"I guess Sandra was right" He muttered to himself. "This is a trap. I hope the others are OK"

He reached the end of the corridor and looked right and left.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." He groaned. The corridor branched in two different directions and from where Rusty could see, those directions branched off in several more.

He was stuck in a giant maze.

"Well, this is just great" He grumbled. "Which way do I go now?"

**Left.**

"Huh?"

The voice that resonated in his head was not that of the Ancient Gear Demon. The voice came from a different source, as if he sensed it more than heard it. A familiar voice both deep and whispery.

"Left? But I--? Oh, who am I kidding? May as well..."

He turned and strode off down the left hallway. In less than ten seconds he had reached another intersection.

"OK, now which--"

**Straight.**

"Of course"

Rusty obediently trudged off in the direction the voice prompted him too.

_I am now officially crazy. _He thought to himself. _Not only am I hearing voices in my head, I'm listening to them! __It's all just too convenient, But it's not as if I have much of a choice, so which way now?_

The voice in Rusty's head steered him true, not once did he run into a dead end.

After several minutes he emerged from the maze into what appeared to be an entirely different warehouse. This one, while just as old was margially more well-kept, though signs of neglect still showed,

A figure stood in the middle of the warehouse. It spoke as Rusty started forward.

"So, you've finally arrived, traitor" The figure turned.

"The time has come for you to pay for your crimes, Issa--c"

The woman trailed off as she finally saw who it was. "Y-You're not Issac!" She sputtered.

Rusty raised an eyebrow. "Gee, what tipped you off?" He asked sarcastically.

As the woman continued to stutter half-sentences, Rusty took the time to size her up.

She was fairly young, somewhere in her early twenties, with pale blond hair, almost white. She wore a short black dress with a white frilly lacing and wore a small pair of glasses that she was fiddling with nervously.

"T-This is unprecedented" She finally got out at last. "By my calculations, you should've been the last to escape from the maze"

Rusty sighed. "I knew it. You're from the Clan, aren't you?"

"Correct" The woman seemed to have regained her composure.

"My name is Karen Danor, and I have full authorization from Damien himself to employ any methods necessary to bring both Issac, you and your other friends to justice"

Danor turned and opened a duffel bag lying at her feet.

"It seems someone threw a wrench into my plans" She said. "But no matter, all it really means is, I'll have to eliminate you in a different order than what I had planned to!"

When she straightened up, she was holding two duel disks, one of which she tossed to Rusty.

Rusty caught it and looked at it dubiously. "Say I don't feel like dueling you" He said. "What then?"

Danor smirked. "You don't have a choice" She said, trails of black smoke wisping out from behind her.

_'I don't have a choice' Those seem to be words to live by._Rusty thought dryly. Out loud he said. "Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about your little souly stealy thingie"

Danor smiled coldly.

Rusty cracked his neck. "Very well, then" He said. "Shall we dance?"

"Let's shall..."

"DUEL!"

Rusty: 4000 Life Points

Danor: 4000 Life Points

"Ladies first." Rusty said deferentially as they drew.

Danor raised an eyebrow. "Well, if even a criminal such as you can be courteous, I guess chivalry isn't dead after all."

Rusty Smirked. "Oh, you'd be surprised."

"Mmm, well, I'll start my turn by summoning A Cat of Ill Omen in defense mode!(500/300)"

A plump, slightly sinister looking black cat plopped itself onto Danors field, with a lazy, content and slightly threatening purr.

"I end my turn."

_A move as simple as that, and with a monster that weak? She's up to something, that or she simply hasn't drawn the card she needs._

**_You're forgetting the third possibility, that it's both of those._**

_Hey, you're back! How're you feeling?_

**_Better. If you hadn't called me back into my card when you did who knows what could've happened to me._**

_No kidding, say was that voice I heard earlier yours?_

**_What voice? _**The demon sounded puzzled.

_Never mind_ Rusty thought hastily. _Are you sure you're alright?_

**_I'm still a little tired. I'm not sure how much help I'll be able to give you in this duel. _**

_Don't worry about it, you rest. I can handle her._

Danor was looking at him impatiently.

Rusty pulled the top card from his deck.

"I summon the Ancient Gear Knight in attack mode!(1800/500)"

Rusty's armored robot rose from the ground, leveling it's sword at the Cat across from it.

"Attack!" Rusty commanded.

The robot charged. It's sword swung in a vicious arc, leaving a silver trail in the air. The cat yowled in pain before dissolving into nothingness.

Danor was unconcerned. "Now that my Cat has been destroyed," She said, fanning her deck, "I can take one Trap card and move it to the top of my deck"

_Looks like it _was _all of the above. _Rusty thought dryly

She made her adjustments quickly then looked expectantly at Rusty.

Rusty nodded. "I end my turn. I don't suppose you'd tell me what happened to that Dragon earlier?"

Danor giggled. "That? That was just a trick. A packet of spirit energy with the illusion of a dragon wrapped around it."

Rusty grunted. "Simple, but effective"

Danor smiled. "Quite so. My draw!"

"I summon the Shadow Ninja! (2500/2000)!"

A lithe black-clad figure dropped from the ceiling, landing on Danor's field without a sound.

"What the heck?" Rusty exclaimed, stepping back. "How can you summon a monster that strong so easily?"

"He does come with a price" Danor conceded. "The Shadow Ninja loses power as long as I have cards in my hand."

Shadow Ninja (2500--1250/1000)

The Ninja slumped slightly at the loss in power, but it still looked ready for battle.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn" Danor said simply.

_All that just to summon a crippled monster? _Rusty thought. _She's up to something._

"Then I'll draw!"

**_She's getting ready to strike, Rusty_** The Ancient Gear Demon cautioned.

**_You said it yourself, she wouldn't go to all that trouble just to summon a crippled monster._**

_All the more reason to push my luck while I have the chance!_

"I activate my Monster's effect!" Rusty barked. "Since my Knight is a Gemini monster, while it's on the field, I can summon it a second time to make it immune to Traps"

_"Can't have that"_Danor thought. "But before you do that," She broke in. "I'll activate a Trap of my own! Barring the Gate! Now you're banned from summoning this turn!"

_Nuts! _Rusty cursed himself mentally. _That includes Gemini summoning! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to take my chances with that face-down of hers!"_

"In that case, I'll have my Knight attack!" The knight raised his weapon and charged, electronic eyes locked onto their target.

Danor smiled coldly. "Fool" She said slowly. "Go! Skill Drain!"

Her trap card shot up as the words left her mouth.

"Now for the cost of 1000 Life Points,"

Rusty: 3900 Life Points

Danor: 3000 Life Points

"Every monster on the field has their effect negated"

Rusty scowled. "So what?" He demanded.

Danor laughed cruelly, the sound resembling falling icicles.

"So what? So that!" She pointed at her Ninja who suddenly swelled in size.

Ninja (1250--2500/1000)

The ninja leapt into the air and dealt the charging knight a kick that knocked it's head clear off.

The head rolled back across the field to come to rest at Rusty's feet. It exploded, dealing Rusty 700 points of damage.

Rusty: 3200 Life Points

Danor: 3000 Life Points

Rusty was forced to shield his face from the backlash of his attack.. He cracked one eye open.

_OK, that hurt. This chick's playing for keeps, I'd better start doing the same._

"I'll set one card face-down and pass it to you"

"Not much else you can do."

Danor drew as the tan-faced representation of the set card appeared.

"I Summon the Goblin Attack Force!(2300/0)"

There was a chorus of deep boorish grunts and three club wielding, green skinned goblins rushed onto Danors field.

Rusty looked confused. "Isn't that the card that switches to defense mode when it attacks? Why would you use that? It's only good for like one attack anyway."

Danor laughed again. "Are you forgetting?" She asked condescendingly. "That's an Effect! And Skill Drain negates all Effects!"

_So _thats _her strategy. _Rusty frowned. _Skill Drain removes her monsters negative effects, leaving her with some seriously powerful monsters. But at the same time, it cripples my deck by removing most of my powers and tricks._

Rusty scanned his hand for a moment. _Most. But not all..._

"Now, Shadow Ninja, attack Rusty directly!"

"Oh, boy..."

Rusty looked up, but the Ninja was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, he felt a breath of air behind him.

Rusty barked. "Activate Trap!" Just before the Ninja struck his spine.

Rusty managed to stay on his feet, but it was a close thing.

Rusty: 4100 Life Points

Danor: 3000 Life Points

Danor adjusted her glasses. "So that's what that trap of yours did," She said, looking over the hologram of Rusty's Nutrient Z trap card.

"I was starting to wonder when your trap didn't affect my Ninja's attack."

Rusty struggled to regain his balance as Danor continued. "However, it won't protect you from this next attack!"

The Goblins charged forward before Rusty had steadied, each striking him with a studded metal club.

Rusty was knocked clean off his feet and straight into the invisible barrier marked by the flickering shadows. The barrier blasted him away and he crashed to the ground.

Rusty: 2500 Life Points

Danor: 3000 Life Points

Rusty groaned as he got to his feet, that last blow had left him with some bruises.

"Rusty!"

Rusty looked up just in time to see Issac come sprinting out of the maze.

"Issac, are you OK?" Rusty asked, the Duel forgotten.

Issac looked pale and wild. "Y-eah, I am. But the Sorcerer, he--" Issac cut off with a chocking gasp.

"He what?" Rusty demanded.

"I...think....he's gone." Issac looked awful.

Rusty snarled and rounded on Danor.

"What did you do?!" He demanded

Danor smiled at him coldly. "Dispersing the enemy's strength is the first rule of battle. Isn't it? In your case, your strength comes from your Spirits, so I couldn't have them hanging around. The walls of that maze haven been covered with a substance that is rather toxic to spirits."

"You won't be around much longer either!" Rusty spat, drawing.

"I'll start out by playing the Field Spell called Geartown!"

Rusty slapped the card into the corresponding slot. Instantly, the warehouse vanished to be replaced by an industrial city.

"With this in play," Rusty said, selecting a card from his hand. "I need one less Tribute for Ancient Gear monsters. But that's not all, next I activate the Spell Ancient Gear Castle!"

The dark stone castle rose from the outskirts of the city, it's spires barely visible over the skyline.

"Thanks to my Geartown, I get to Summon my Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera for free!(2300/1300) "

The multi-headed monster bounded from behind Rusty, coming to rest on his field and growling at Danor's monsters, who returned the challenge.

"Plus, whenever a monster is summoned I get to put a counter on my Castle!"

The vague outline of a cannon could be seen protruding from the castle.

Danor adjusted her glasses again. "What exactly are you thinking?" She asked. "The best you can do with that monster is take out my Goblins, and even then, you'd leave yourself exposed during my turn"

Rusty Smirked. "Oh, did I forget to mention? My castle increases all Ancient Gear monster's attack points by 300!"

Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Chimera: (2300--2600/1300)

"Oh" Danor bit her lip.

"Chimera! Take out her Ninja!" Rusty commanded. "He's really running up my chiropractor bills!"

The Chimera pounced on her Ninja like a cat on a mouse. The ninja raised it's arms to protect itself but was torn to shreds by the corroded claws.

Rusty: 2500 Life Points

Danor: 2900 Life Points

Danor didn't bat an eye. "Are you finished?" She asked.

Rusty placed a card in his back row. "I am now."

"Hey!"

Sandra came jogging out of the maze.

"Sandra are you OK?" Rusty asked.

She nodded. "Where's Issac?"

"Here." Issac sat with his hands wrapped around his knees, he still looked very pale.

"What happened to him?" Sandra asked.

"There was something in that maze that messes up spirits. We think the Sorcerer is gone."

"Oh." Sandra looked solemn. She turned to Danor. "Who is this?" She asked. "Another lackey?"

Danor fiddled with her glasses again. "I beg your pardon!" She said, sounding affronted. "I am Karen Danor, personal assistant to Mr. Damien and I have been authorized to--"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Sandra interrupted with a wave of her hand. "Just kick her butt, Rusty."

Danor's nostrils flared. "As if!" She snorted. "This little chimp doesn't have a chance against me! And I'll prove it! Draw!"

Danor smiled coldly. "This is it." She said. "Behold, the strongest monster in my deck! Beast King Barbaros! (3000/1200)"

A massive humanoid-lion erupted onto Danor's field, wielding a long spear-like sword and shield. It roared so loud bits and peices of debris fell from the crumbling roof around them.

"Normally, when he's summoned without a tribute," Danor said arrogantly. "His attack is cut to 1900, but thanks to my Skill Drain..."

"Oh, man..." Rusty braced himself, this was really going to hurt.

Barbaros hauled back and smashed the Chimera like tin foil. The wind from the blow forced Rusty to take a step back as his Life Points plummeted.

Rusty: 2100 Life Points

Danor: 2900 Life Points

"Rusty!" Issac shouted.

"Now, finish him off Goblins!" Danor cackled.

The Goblins charged again, but Rusty broke in.

"Not so fast! I activate Defensive Draw! Now I take no damage, and in return I get to draw 1 card!"

Rusty pulled the top card from his deck, releasing an energy wave that pushed the goblins back to Danor's field.

"You little ape!" Danor seethed.

"Say it, don't spray it" Rusty Smirked. "Are you done?"

Danor nodded, her pale face a mask of rage.

"Good, I Draw! And now I'll activate two Continuous spell cards--!"

"And I'll smash them!" Danor exclaimed.

"Wha--?"

Danor held up a card. "I activate Spell Shattering Arrow! Now for every face up Spell card you control, you take 500 points of damage! So counting your Castle, Town and two spells, that's 2000 points of damage!"

The silver arrow basted into Rusty releasing a shockwave that decimated his spells as well as his Life Points.

Rusty: 100 Life Points

Danor: 2900 Life Points

Rusty fell to one knee, clutching his chest. That last blow had seriously physically hurt!

"So weak..." Danor sneered. "You're just like everyone else, leaning on your Spirit like a crutch, unwilling to do any real work for yourself..."

Sandra turned to Issac. "So what's her problem? She's one of the Clan right? So what's her guff with Duel Spirits?"

Issac folded his arms. "Karen Danor is an anomaly among members of the Clan of the Ka" He looked at Danor with pity. "She is the only Clan member in history to not have a Duel Spirit"

"Seriously?" Sandra asked.

Issac nodded. "When she was young, the elder took her through every card the clan owned, but she simply couldn't form a bond with any of them"

"Just how many cards does the Clan own?"

"Almost all of them."

"Are you kidding me?" Sandra gasped.

"The only ones we don't have are ones that are one of a kind or are extremely rare, like the Blue Eyes-White Dragon."

"And she couldn't connect with any of them?" Sandra still coulnd't believe it.

"I don't need Spirits." Danor said in disgust. "What proof is there of their existence? None, except the testimony of a few Duel Monsters-obsessed idiots!"

"B-but can't you see Spirits?" Rusty asked.

"Of course" Danor said, "But that doesn't mean I believe in them! I believe in what I can see, and what can be proven! Cold hard facts and reason. That's what got me to where I am as Mr. Damien's personal assistant, and that's how I duel, by stripping my opponents monsters down to the bare facts"

"Well, unfourtnately for you," Rusty said, picking himself up. "Those bare facts, are going to be the ones to destroy you."

"Don't be ridiculous" Danor scoffed. "You've only got two cards left in your hand and only 100 life points left! What can you possibly do?"

"It's not what I can do," Rusty Smirked. "It's what you did."

"What?" Even Danor was confused by that statement.

"I'll prove to you that Duel Spirits aren't useless!" Rusty exclaimed. "We may fight together, but we never make them fight our battles for us. And I'll prove it! See, when you destroyed my Geartown, you activated it's second effect! Now I get to take an Ancient Gear from my Deck, and Special Summon it right away. I pick the Ancient Gear Engineer!(1500/1500)"

The rusted, drill-weilding robot, rose onto Rusty's field. It's one green eye pulsed as it analyzed the field.

"And next, I activate Ancient Gear Tank and equip it to my Engineer, giving it a 600 attack point boost!"

Ancient Gear Engineer: (1500--2100/1500)

A decrepit, rusted motorcycle, sporting a cannon on it's front, rolled onto the field. The Engineer swung on leg over the chassis and warmed up the cannon.

"What's that going to do?" Danor asked. "If you're trying to mock me, it won't work! Barbaros is still much stronger!" Danor gestured to her lion like monster, who growled, as if to agree.

"That's exactly my point!" Rusty smirked. "I activate my last spell! Nitro Unit! And I'll equip it onto Barbaros!"

A large engine covered in gas tanks flew across the field and attached itself to Barbaros's chest. The monster looked at it disdainfully as if it were no more than an annoying bug.

"Now I'll have my Engineer attack!"

The robotic mechanic revved it's drill and engine up to full speed before popping a wheelie and blazing forward.

"Are you insane?" Sandra demanded.

"You won't survive that!" Issac shouted.

"You mean she wont," Rusty Smirked, folding his arms. "See, unlike most of my other Ancient Gears, my Engineer doesn't just jam Trap activation, it's out and out immune to them, which means, he keeps his effect! Not only that, but his effect states that when he attacks, I get to destroy one of Danor's Spell or Trap cards!"

"What?" Danor shrieked.

A thin green laser shot from the tip of the Engineers drill and pierced straight through Skill Drain. The card's edges caught fire then curled up and was gone.

"And since you summoned Barbaros without a tribute, his attack reverts back to 1900!"

Beast King Barbaros: (3000--1900)/1200)

Barbaros's attack dropped a split second before the Engineer blasted straight through him. The massive man-lion roared in pain, before exploding into nothingness.

Danor was forced to shield her face from the blast.

She looked up to see Rusty's Smirking face.

"You..." She snarled hatefully.

Rusty said nothing, only pointed.

Danor looked up to see the Nitro Unit come falling down. As soon as it hit the ground, it exploded, sending waves of energy crashing over her.

"And since Barbaros's original attack was 3000..." Rusty trailed off.

Rusty: 100 Life Points

Danor: 0000 Life Points.

Danor fell to her knees. "M-Mr. Damien" She muttered in shock. She looked up into Rusty's eyes, who could only shrug in apology. Danors hair turned to ash first. Within seconds the rest of her body had followed before blowing away into nothing.

"Well, that;s the end of that.." Rusty said as the barrier surrounding the field vanished.

Sandra nodded. "You did good, Rusty."

Rusty turned to Issac who was still looking rather pale. "Are you going to be OK?" He asked his friend.

Issac nodded miserably. "C'mon." He said. "Let's get outta here before Rhodes sends out the hounds."

Sandra lead the three friends out of the warehouse and back to the helipad just as the last student was getting on board. Rhodes stood to one side of the helicopters doorway, supervising the loading process. She pulled Rusty aside before he got on.

"Is Issac OK?" She asked. "He looks terrible."

"We think he lost his Spirit." Rusty told her quietly.

"Oh, my." Rhodes covered her mouth. "Is there anything I can do?"

Rusty shook his head. "I don't think so, but thanks anyway..."

Issac stared at the seat in front of him as the helicopter took off. He had lost his spirit, his partner, his closest friend. He pulled out the Chaos Sorcerers card and stared at it sadly.

_**Why the long face?**_

Issac jumped hard at the sound of the Chaos Sorcerers face in his head.

_I thought you were dead! _Issac shouted happily mentally.

**_Not quite. That substance Danor put in the maze did a REAL number on me, but I should be fine. I just need some rest..._**

_Then just up and rest you idiot! _Issac laughed.

He caught Rusty looking at him from across the aisle. "The Sorcerers OK." He smiled.

Rusty grinned. "Thank god."

Issac leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

This battle had been a tough one, but in the end, they had all come out unharmed. The Clan was starting to run out of talented duelists to send after them. But they still weren't finished yet, not by a long shot. But not matter what happened next, the three friends could handle it.

* * *

Damien pounded the top of his desk in frustration. The sound of the blow reverberated around the empty concrete cavern. Danor had failed.  
The one person who he had always been able to trust to carry out his orders to the letter, and she had failed.

Damien rubbed his face with his hands. Issac had the Chaos Sorcerer. _The Chaos Sorcerer._There were tons of cards stronger than that. All you had to do was tear open a random booster pack and there it was. So how come--

"Um, Mr Damien?"

Damien looked up. "What do you want?" He asked in slight surprise.

"Revenge."

"...Really?" Damien sat back and steepled his fingers. This was getting more interesting by the second.

"Issac stole what was rightfully mine. And I want it back."

"Well, then..." Damien mused. "If you really want it that badly, who a I to stand I your way? I'll make all the arrangements."

"Thank you, sir."

Damien watched his newest pawn walk off. Why hadn't he thought of this before? He smiled quietly to himself.

_At last Issac, an enemy even you won't be able to raise a hand against._

* * *

**Gah! Finally done! This was probably one of my favorite duels yet, although there was a TON of things I wanted to put in that I wasn't able to. Oh, well. I'll just save them for later...**

**OC Cards: Shadow Ninja, Barring The Gate**

**I can almost guarantee that the next chapter will be up faster. Mostly because it doesn't have a duel, but what it does have is character developmenmt, a touch of romance and Rusty breakdancing. That last reason ALONE should be enough to keep you coming back for more! XD**


	13. Things to Care About, Things to Protect

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX**

**Chapter 13: Things to Care About, Things to Protect**

**Well, as promised this IS up faster than usual, though not as fast as I'd like... Despite the fact that I didn't have a duel to write to bog me down, getting the flow of this chapter right was almost as difficult. Oh, well. Hope it's worth the wait!**

* * *

Issac wandered lazily across the cool grass, letting the morning sea breeze ruffle his hair. Gulls wheeled overhead, calling to one another with harsh cries.

He made his way down to the shoreline and sat on the sand, under the shade of a nearby tree. He pulled off his shoes and socks, letting the very edge of the water brush the soles of his feet. Issac closed his eyes and lay back on the sun-warmed sand. For just a little while, he could forget everything. No clan, no life or death duels, no responsibilities, he could just relax.

Issac lay there for a while, letting the very edge of a doze brush against his consciousness. He was aware of her presence for some time, but was unaware of his own awareness. When he finally did realize someone was near he shot bolt upright.

Sandra stood a few feet away, staring out at the ocean. She had her arms wrapped around herself as if she were cold.

"Oh." She said softly, as if only just now noticing him herself. "Hi."

"Hi..." Issac said awkwardly.

Usually by this time one of them would've taken the opportunity to insult or belittle the other. But now, Sandra seemed out of sorts.

The silence between them stretched for several minutes.

"Tell me," Sandra said at last. "What was life like in the Clan?"

"What do you mean?" Issac asked cautiously.

"Like, did you have any friends, family?"

Issac was quiet for a while. "I had a brother." He said at last.

"Both my parents died when I was a baby, so I don't remember them."

"You said 'had'," Sandra noted. "What happened?"

Issac smiled sadly. "I became one of the Three." He said, "After that, he was always overshadowed by his little brother, and he always resented me for that, so..."

"I'm...sorry." Sandra said slowly.

Issac chuckled. "Don't be, it's not your fault. Nothing for it."

"Just how did you get the Chaos Sorcerer anyway?" Sandra asked.

Issac got a far-away look in his eyes as he recounted the tale. "Every few months," He began, "The Elder would take all the kids who didn't have a duel spirit yet in to a room. There were several tables with copies of the Chaos Sorcerer laid out all over them. The thing was, all but one of them were fakes. The kids were given permission to go and pick one card that they thought was the real one."

Issac wrapped his arms behind his head. "I remember all the kids rushed off and started running around like crazy, trying to find the real one. But not me. I can still remember how I saw this tall man standing in the middle of the room. He beckoned to me and lead me to a single card and pointed at it, so I took it. Only later did I realize the man I saw was the Chaos Sorcerer."

Issac trailed off for a while. "After everyone had made their pick, we lined up and presented our choice to the Elder. I remember that everyone always asked: 'Is this the one?' They would ask, 'Is this the one?' 'Is this the one?' But I was the only one who said 'This _is_ the one.'"

"What happened after that?"

"I was put into an 'accelerated program' if you will. The fact that I was one of the Three meant that my abilities would be far superior to that of anyone else in the clan. The Elder actually taught me himself"

"Yeah, about that..." Sandra wondered. "Why don't you ever Transcarnate? From the sound of things you'd be able to mop the floor with whoever comes after us!"

Issac grimaced. "I would but..." He looked away. "I have enough blood on my hands."

Sandra furrowed her eyebrows. "What?"

Issac rubbed his face. "When I escaped from the Clan," He said slowly. "Some of the men came after me. I managed to hide for a while on the roof of an abandoned building while they spread out, looking for me. When I thought it safe, I ran off without looking where I was going. I started to Transcarnate, to get away, but suddenly a searcher appeared from nowhere. I ran right into him and sent both of us flying over the edge of the roof. I landed on top of him, and when the stars cleared from my vision, he wasn't moving."

Issac's voice had begun to waver and he fell silent for a while to gather himself. "I knew the man," He said at last. "He had kids. If I hadn't been in the middle of transforming, I would've been able to stop, and he would've been alive today. That's why I swore an oath, that I would never Transcarnate again..."

"Oh..." By now Sandra was sitting down, with her arms wrapped around her legs. "What about the others? Didn't you ever...I don't know...feel remorse about having to kill off all those guys' who've come after us?"

Issac sighed deeply. "Of course I did," He said heavily. "But it's not like we had any other option. Thanks to that contract they've formed with the Fiends, it was us or them. And for another thing, they all served Damien, and as long as he's in charge, nobody in the clan is safe."

Sandra frowned. "Why do you care about the Clan so much?" She asked. "From what I've heard from you they're nothing but egostistical jerks!"

Issac turned his head towards her and for a split second, Sandra was worried that he'd be angry or yell at her. But he just laughed gently. "I suppose they are." He said.

"But, I'm doing it because of what the Elder taught me."

"What was that?"

"Everyone knew I was being groomed to take control of the Clan when the Elder died. And to that end, the Elder didn't just teach me how to Duel or Transcarnate, he also taught me how to live, rules to follow, principles, that sort of thing. But there was one lesson he taught me that overruled them all..."

"What was that?" Sandra asked.

Issac looked her right in the eye.

"Protect what you care about." He said.

He turned back to the ocean. "No matter what it is," He continued. "A thing, an ideal, or a person, you do _whatever it takes_ to keep it or them safe."

Sandra stared at him for a long while, neither saying anything. _I was wrong about him,_ She thought, _Sara was right, he's more than just what he seems. So why do I feel so.....?_

Issac frowned. "You feel alright?" He asked.

Sandra started slightly. "Y-yeah. Why do you ask?"

Issac shrugged. "You just seem spacey today. Is everything OK?"

Sandra sighed. "I've just been feeling sort of lonely lately..." She said, resting her chin on her knees.

"Yeah," Issac mused. "Sara mentioned you lived alone in your dorm room. I imagine it would get lonely at times..."

"It's not like it's anything new though..." Sandra said.

"How so?" Issac asked.

"I never knew my father," Sandra began. "And my mother always had to work hard to take care of the two of us. We never had the most money, but we we're happy."

"What happened?" Issac asked.

"She got sick." Sandra said sadly. "All that working so hard had weakened her immune system, and well..." Sandra trailed off.

"I'm sorry." Issac said gently.

Sandra smiled wryly. "Like you said, 'not you're fault'"

"So who are you living with now?" Issac wondered.

"I've been put in different homes over the past few years," Sandra said, trying to keep her voice light. "They were all good people but..."

"...But they weren't family." Issac finished for her.

Sandra nodded. "I haven't had a real family since mom...died." She said slowly. She pulled her deck out of her pocket and looked at it.

"That's partly the reason I use the Six Samurai," She said. "They way they work together, support each other. It's almost like they're a family themselves..."

Sandra carefully replaced her deck in her jacket pocket.

"At the moment I'm staying with a relative in the city. She means well, but she's only like 19 years old so she won't last too long."

Sandra shrugged.

"She's a nice person, but right now she's too interested in boys and makeup to really be able to take care of herself, let alone me."

Issac smiled wryly. "Sounds like you've seen plenty of her kind come and go. It makes you sound a lot older than you really are..."

Sandra returned the smile. "I could say the same thing about you."

Issac shrugged. "Well, with pasts like ours, our only real option was to grow up fast, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Sandra trailed off, looking at Issac.

He turned back to the ocean again, his dirty blond hair blending into the sand. _If **he's **more than what **he **seems,_ Sandra thought, _What does that say about me? I guess I should get to know him a least a **little** better..._

"Hey," She said aloud. "You hear about that dance tonight at the Obelisk Dorm?"

"Hmm?" Issac asked. "What dance?"

"Apparently it's some send-off for Lily since she's leaving to work at Industrial Illusions soon. You going?"

"Ahh," Issac hesitated. "I don't know."

"It's open to all dorms" Sandra reassured him. "It's supposed to be semi-formal."

"Well, I don't exactly have anything nice to wear." Issac said.

"Ask Rhodes" Sandra suggested. "I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help you out with something."

Issac hesitated for a second. "Well," He conceded. "All right."

Sandra nodded as she stood. "See you there."

Issac turned back to the sea as Sandra walked off. Could be fun...

* * *

Ridiculously loud techno music blasted from speakers arranged around the main hall in the Obelisk Blue dorm. Dances were popular at Duel Academy for two reasons.

1. It have the guys a chance to see the girls in something other than their uniforms.

2. It gave the girls a chance to laugh at the guys as they attempted to look cool but ended up looking like spazzes on the dance floor.

At the moment though, nobody could say a thing as Rusty had just acheived the paragon of either stupidity or awesomeness, nobody was quite sure which.

He stared at everyone. "Well?" He asked. "Could somebody please turn the room right-side up?"

Rusty at the moment was on his head, having completed 12 revolutions on said head.

Issac rolled his eyes, walked up to Rusty and pushed him over. "That work?" He asked.

Rusty picked himself up and dusted himself off. "Yeah, but for some reason, now I have a splitting headache."

Issac groaned. "Let's just get some punch."

Rusty ran a hand through his flaming hair. "I doubt getting hit by someone will make my head feel any better..."

Issac rolled his eyes and pushed Rusty towards the concessions stand.

As they quaffed watered-down lemonade Issac asked: "So, you dance with anyone yet?"

Rusty shrugged. "Eh, a few girls. Doesn't seem like there's anyone really special here though. How about you? You dance with anybody?"

Issac shook his head. "I haven't danced at all, period." He said.

Issac at the moment had donned a white shirt and black slacks lent to him by Chancellor Rhodes. Rusty on the other hand was dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and slacks as well.

"Are you kidding me?" Rusty demanded, almost choking on his drink. "Why are you even here then? Isn't the whole reason for a dance? To dance?"

Issac shrugged. "There's just nobody really....interesting." He said.

"I resent that." A voice said behind them. The two boys turned to see Sandra standing there, wearing a simple rich blue dress.

"Sandra," Issac said in surprise. "You....look--"

Rusty whistled. "Daaang, you clean up _good_, girl!"

Sandra shot him a look.

Issac sighed. "Run while you still can."

Rusty held up his hands in a defensive gesture. "All right, all right. Just be careful not to get your throat torn out..." He Smirked as he sauntered away.

"Sorry about that..." Issac apologized.

"It's all right." Sandra smiled.

Issac blinked. Outside of predatory leers in duels, he couldn't recall ever seeing Sandra smile before. It was a new experience...and one he rather liked.

Sandra's smile wavered for an instant and Issac realized he'd been staring. He quickly looked away.

"S-so," He stammered. blushing slightly, scrambling for a topic to talk about. "You enjoying the dance?"

Sandra shrugged. "Yeah."

Issac nodded. "Yeah..." He trailed off. The two of them watched the other students on the dance floor in silence.

Sandra looked at Issac out of the corner of her eye. His ice-blue eyes roamed across the dance floor, his gaze seeming to peirce straight through whatever he looked at. He stood with his hands in his pockets, radiating an aura of relaxed confidence.

She flashed back to when she had first met Issac. At first, she had taken him for a cocky, jumped-up hotshot who needed to be put in his place, which he had been, be her. But after their battles with the Clan and getting to know him a little better, he had changed, or maybe it was just her perception of him that had changed, or...yet still, it was she who had changed...

The music on the dance floor changed from an energetic rock to a slow dance.

"Hey," Sandra asked suddenly. "D'you wanna dance?"

Issac blinked and he turned towards her suddenly. "Oh, uh....yeah, sure." He said.

Sandra grabbed his hand and led him out onto the floor.

As they moved in time to the slow beat Issac asked. "So, do you have any plans after graduating?"

Sandra shrugged. "Nothing too much, get a job...mabye settle down and have a family...finally."

She sighed as she looked at Issac. "I'm just so sick of being alone, you know?"

Issac smiled gently. "Yeah, I know. But you know, so long as you're here. You're never alone..."

The two of them stared into each others eyes, slowly, imperceptibly, their lips began to draw closer to each other.

"Promise?" Sandra whispered.

"Promise" Issac replied.

Their lips were millimeters away, both of them had shut their eyes. Issac could feel Sandra's gentle breath on his lips--

"Hello, Issac."

Issac froze.

Sandra opened her eyes.

Issac sighed and hung his head.

"Hello, Tia." He said in a resigned tone of voice as he turned.

Tia stood a few feet away. She stood a few inches taller than Issac and her emerald green hair was cut into a pageboy that matched her eyes and dress.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Now that's no way to greet your girlfriend, is it?"

* * *

**BWAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! Now all of you get to sit around for 2 and 1/2 months waiting to find out just WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON while I work on Transformation, revising earlier chappies and playing video games! Ain't I a stinker?**

**Well, this chapter didn't coe out QUITE as good as I'd hoped...especially the romance. *sigh*Oh well, if you REALLY want to see a better romance fic by me, check out my Joshua X Rhyme one-shot A World Apart. (SHAMELESS PLUGGING FTW!!!!)**

**Now REVIEW! Or else I'll sic Shirley on you!**

**Shirley: Grrr....**


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